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Each bin is about $100 so we need to raise some dough fast! We'll have a wishing well set up in the shop until we raise enough to purchase the bins! Because of their design, these new bins will allow us to add 8 new products to the co-op in the same space! So we are looking for 30 new bins to replace the current 22 barrels!
Buy a bin for the co-op and we'll put your name on it!

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 THE Grain Mill Is In!!!

The Grain Millis in the shop and ready to grind! Simply purchase whole grains and then put them though the machine. Help is always available, but its really easy to use! It will grind 500 grams of flour in about a minute.

 

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The effect of the floods

by Renata Field, Produce Coordinator

From drought to flood, hail storms and locust plagues, farming in Australia is fraught with difficulties. Millions of dollars worth of crops have been lost, not to mention farming equipment, roads and infrastructure. The president of Queensland farm group AgForce, Brent Finlay, estimated more than $1 billion in grain crops - chickpea, wheat, sorghum and corn - and farming equipment had been lost to the floods*.


The Bauer family's tomatoes lie underwater

Anthony Bauer of Bauer’s Organic Farm, situated in the Lockyer Valley, says that he’s lost all the tomatoes and pumpkins that were in the ground. He says luckily this isn’t a time when they have a lot of crops planted, so the losses are not as great as they would be at other times of the year. Mr Bauer says the next concern is planting the winter crops. Predictions of further rain and cyclone warnings in Queensland mean planting could be delayed.

The flooding has not only been isolated to Queensland, but has affected the food bowl in Victoria and northern NSW. The North Coast Organic Growers Cooperative, who usually supply to us each Wednesday, have been unable to leave their farms due to the flooded river. Some members will remember the delicious and affordable blueberries they supplied last year; they have unfortunately been destroyed by rain this year.

The flooding has had and will have a huge impact upon the availability of food. Some items are difficult to get, such as celery and ginger. Others are in such high demand that the price has shot through the roof. It is predicted that there will be a rolling effect on prices over the coming months as food in storage is used up and the impacts upon planting for next season become clear. We are lucky at Alfalfa House to have so many strong connections with NSW farmers, as items we have from them, such as eggplants, beetroot and capsicums have been unavailable from wholesalers over the last 6 weeks. Just another reason to shop local!

Members can expect water damaged produce, such as brown and black marks in the skin, or yellow leaf caused by nitrogen deficiency (nitrogen is leeched out of the soil during heavy rain). Look out for our "Flood affected" blue signs to let you know if there are supply or quality issues.

Climate change appears to be wreaking havoc with the dramatic increase in strange weather patterns. I personally think it's a sign of things to come and am grateful for our connections with farmers, who do their best to supply us in many difficult situations. Our sympathy is with the people affected by the floods in Queensland, northern NSW and Victoria.

Sources:
*SMH January 11, 2011, Lucy Battersby and Dylan Welch
~Biological Farmers of Australia. Desta Itote, Jan 20, 2011.

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Evening picnic in Newtown Park

On December 12th last year a group of Alfalfans - members, volunteers, staff and MC - enjoyed a relaxed and yummy picnic in the park to celebrate the year's end and all the festive season holidays.


A beautiful day for a picnic

The Coop provided some Alfalfa specialties, chocolates, dips and the like, with highlights of a lovely nut treats mix, a rice salad and a refreshing punch to cool our insides. Everyone enjoyed the best of the best of cakes, both raw veggie and the inimitable chocolate, caramel variety, as well as a wide range of unique and tasty dishes that our members brought along. Yum and thanks!


There till the end!

We were lucky to have a couple of Alfalfan sprites playing on the swings behind us and a very well behaved dog visited the party, and most of all we had a great chance to talk and discuss amongst ourselves the things that were inspiring our hearts or just tickling our fancies. Alfalfa hopes everyone took a little something special home with them that day.

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Global Consumers' Cooperatives: A Historical Perspective

On November 19th Andrew, Neridah, Monika and Renata attended the Global Consumers Cooperatives: A Historical Perspective Symposium held at Sydney University. The conference brought together a number of international researchers who spoke about the history of consumer co-operatives, including why consumer co-ops have been more successful in some regions and countries than others.

The keynote speakers are members of the steering committee driving the Global Consumers' Co-operative Project, which plans to produce a major publication in 2012, the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives. It was interesting to learn about the different paths the consumer co-op movement has taken and for people involved with various co-op in Australia to discuss some of the common themes and ideas with the researchers.


Speakers at the Coop Conference

There were presentations on the Nordic co-operative movements and the 'middle way' in the inter-war period, how consumer co-ops emerged in an adversarial environment in Japan, the history of consumer co-ops in Canada and Japan and then finally the Australian and New Zealand perspective of the co-operative movement. There is a copy of the papers presented at the conference along with some of the powerpoint presentations. For more info about the conference see http://sydney.edu.au/business/research/co-operatives.

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Rice growing near Casino, northern NSW

Australian-grown organic rice is back and it's better than ever
Four wins: NSW-grown, rain-fed, biodynamic and cheaper
After the global rice crisis of 2008 and the subsequent shortage of rice, organic Australian-grown medium-grain brown rice is back and it's better than ever. Here's the impressive low-down: local, grown near Casino, on the NSW north coast; rain-fed (no irrigation), biodynamic, processed on-site, shipped direct to Sydney, and as much as 45% down on last season's price, so we are almost back to pre-drought prices. And, no surprise, it's flying out the door.
More

To read more about the global rice shortage, click here.

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Bonsoy back on the shelves
updated June 1, 2010

After five months, a reformulated Bonsoy is back on the shelves. The new Bonsoy is free of the apparent cause of last December’s recall by federal food authorities – an extract of the iodine-rich seaweed, kombu. The original recipe had as much as 7000 micrograms of iodine per 250ml, seven times the established safe limit. Ingesting as little as 30ml (an eighth of a cup) a day would be enough for an adult to exceed the limit. Testing found that Bonsoy was the only product with excessive levels of iodine.

The recall was sparked by a report of a NSW cluster of nine adults aged 29 to 47, and one child, who’d consumed Bonsoy and had presented with thyroid problems. Between Dec. 23, 2009 and Mar. 15 this year, 38 cases of thyroid dysfunction were reported to public health units across Australia that are suspected to be associated with the consumption of Bonsoy. (Bonsoy was also recalled in the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong.)

Food Standards Australia New Zealand is now testing a range of beverages enriched with seaweed and other seaweed-containing products. Any, it says, found to have unsafe levels of iodine will also be recalled.

ABC News story

 

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Field to Feast gets the nod
from the Herald
Hapi Fiefia's farm is a beautiful thing. Over row upon raised row, leaves and fronds in varied shades of green bake in the autumn sun. Here and there, a burst of colour emerges – the brilliant red of a chilli, the butter yellow and mauve of an almost tropical-looking blossom. “Okra flower,� Fiefia says, stopping to pick one. “You can stuff it like a zucchini flower. And you can eat the leaves as well.�

To read more of Joanna Savill's glowing piece in smh.com.au on Hapi and Cath's Field to Feast farm in south-west Sydney, click here. Field to Feast is one of the co-op's farmer-direct suppliers.

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 Free food. Yes it's true.

We’re trialling a new free food giveaway. Every morning food that can be eaten or processed that day will be given away for free! So come in at 11am (9am on Saturdays) and check out the free food down by the cost price section in the shop. It will be clearly labelled.

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Extra reusable bags?
If you have extra reusable shopping bags you can donate them to Marrickville Council’s community BagShare. The BagShare reduces the use of plastic shopping bags in the Marrickville local government area by providing donated reusable shopping bags to local shops. That means if you forget your bag, you can borrow a BagShare bag and return it on your next shopping trip to any of the following.

• The Watershed, 218 King Street, Newtown Tuesday-Saturday 10am-4pm
• Marrickville Council Administrative Centre 2-14 Fisher Street, Petersham, Monday-Friday 8.30am-5pm
• Stanmore Out-of-School Hours Centre, cnr Holt and Cavendish Streets, Stanmore, Monday-Friday 7-9am, 3-6pm
• The Athena School, 26 Oxford Street, Newtown Monday-Friday
9am-5pm

If your work, school, or organisation would like to host a BagShare collection bin, call The Watershed on 9519 6366 or visit BagShare.

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Passing on
the true cost
of EFTPOS
Businesses that provide an EFTPOS facility are charged a fee for each transaction. Those fees cost the co-op around $500 a month and so rather than include this cost in our product markups, as other businesses do, the co-op applies a small surcharge on both credit card and debit card (e.g., Visa Debit) transactions and on EFTPOS (savings or cheque) transactions. Applying the charge is fairer than extending the cost to cash shoppers.

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 Cockroach treatments
Here are some simple preventative steps to make our homes less attractive to the cockroach, as well as six remedies that don't involve pesticides. More

Pests in
the pantry
A really interesting read:

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Might stir up some discussion!

"The Truth About Soy"

By, Leo Babauta via zenhabits.net

"It’s one of those things that has spread on the Internet and unbelievably, has become accepted truth to many people: that soy is unhealthy, even dangerous.
I mention (to otherwise smart and informed people) that I drink soymilk sometimes, and a look of pity comes over their faces. ‘This guy doesn’t know the dangers of soy, and might get cancer, or worse … man boobs,’ they’re thinking."

Check out the rest of the article HERE

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Make your
own cleaning products
if you've ever wanted to make your own household cleaners but didn't know what to use and how much, The Watershed has come up with a number of sure-fire recipes to deal with that hard-to-remove stain or to get that filthy stovetop sparkling as new. To view the impressive list of homemade recipes for Laundry Detergent, Oven Cleaner, Gunktion, Fridge+Freezer Cleaner, Spot Remover, All-Round Cleaner, Bathroom Cleaner, and Window+Mirror Cleaner, click here. The co-op stocks the base ingredients for these recipes.

More simple preventative steps to make our homes less attractive to other pests in the kitchen. More

 

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 The perils of
the plastic
water bottle
You might think you’re doing the right thing by refilling that plastic PET water bottle you have cluttering up the reuse/recycle cupboard instead of buying a new one. You probably think it’s a good idea to extend its life by using it as your carry-around water bottle. Well, it may not be such a good idea after all. Read on

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 A wonderful community night!!

Alfalfa House held our annual fundraiser in July! We had an amazing turnout and a beautiful night with all of you! We screened "The Economics of Happiness" a new film about local economics, food sourcing, and a whole host of community based economics. The night was a massive success and due to the fact that is was such a success we are well on our way to purchasing a new grain mill! (see below!) We'll update you all when it is here!!

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 Fresh flour at Alfalfa House?
Alfalfa is looking to purchase a grain mill for grinding fresh flours on the spot! How about an awesome baking mix with chick pea flour, quinoa flour, and whatever else you can think of? See HERE how to help out!

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A better source for Andean Super Foods

Information produced by Olive Green organics

In response to the article in the Sydney Morning Herald, we thought you might enjoy this bit of information!

Our Quinoa, sourced by Olive Green Organics, is from Irupana, a highly ethical enterprise in Bolivia that assists farmers to produce a high quality organic crop, and encourages them to keep a portion of their harvest so the can improve the own family’s nutrition too. Our Contribution, and yours, is to provide a long term and stable market for the foods the farmers produce. Irupana’s initiatives are creating self respect and a healthier living environment for many families in the Andes who were previously dependent on handouts or coca growing.
Irupana, assist the Quinoa farmers via the Bartolina Sissa Institute. This organisation provides technical assistance to farmers to ensure they comply with organic certification standards as well as providing them with some basic machinery to better handle the produce and help them with output on the fields. Olive Green Organics pays a premium for good quality produce, which in turn encourage the farmers to keep up the good work and this way secure their crop are bought. All farming families subscribed to this supply program must keep part of their crop for their own family nutrition. This helps to avoid the problem of farmers turning all their crop into cash to buy bad super-processed foods. It is also of our interest that the farmers in the Altiplano keep their cultural traditions starting from keeping their traditional diets, which have kept them strong for millennia in such a harsh environment. In the month of August during the Organic Expo, Olive Green Organics will prepare a presentation with the President of Irupana to explain all of this to the Australian public.

Thank you to Antonio Ramos at Olive Green Organics for providing this information!

 

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Hello Dear Members!
A few of you may have noticed a jar on the counter this week, raising money for the Sea Shepherd.

Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organisation. Their mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species.

Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. By safeguarding the biodiversity of our delicately-balanced ocean ecosystems, Sea Shepherd works to ensure their survival for future generations.

The Sea Shepherd vessel "Bob Barker" is docked at Circular Quay this weekend! They have called out for vegan food donations for the crew (see email below from chief cook William Laurent onboard), hence the money jar on the Alfalfa counter! We thank all of you who contributed and are delighted to announce that food was delivered to them this morning. We have been informed that they are moving to a wharf in Balmain for the next 3 weeks, giving us a further opportunity to support the incredibly brave work that they do to protect our marine wildlife. There will be a donation tin at the counter once more for any spare change you may like to contribute. In addition to this, we have been given a list of requested foods, which is a fantastic opportunity if you would like to purchase a bulk amount of particular food for the crew (at Cost Price). Please see below for more details.

If you have any questions regarding the donations, please don't hesitate to ask the shop co-ordinators at Alfalfa House, or give us a ring.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, hope you have a wonderful weekend and we look forward to seeing you in the co-op soon!
Sincerely,

Alfalfa House

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Choice leftovers for chooks, rabbits and hamsters While the co-op composts almost all its food waste onsite in our wormfarms, we do have plenty of leafy green offcuts that in the past have found their way onto the dinner plates of members' chooks and rabbits. It's a win-win: the co-op finds a good home for the leftovers and the critters get to nibble away on discarded organics. If you'd like to feed your animals some choice offcuts, just drop by and ask one of the staff. Oh, BYO bucket or bag. (November 2006) NEW FROM THE NSW NORTH COAST A naturally sweeter coffee Treageagle coffee is grown in the rich, red volcanic soils in the hinterland behind Ballina and Byron Bay on the NSW north coast. The soil and the subtropical climate produce a naturally sweeter bean that's lower in caffeine but still rich in flavour. It's pesticide-free and harvested, processed and roasted on the family-run plantation. Treageagle coffee is also highly regarded by international judging panels and casual coffee drinkers alike. It's also different from other locally-available organic coffees, in that it's Australian. Check out their website treageaglecoffee (December 2006) AH wins local government environment award On November 30, Alfalfa House took out the Waste category in Marrickville Council's 2006 Environment Awards for our long-standing efforts to reduce packaging and minimise waste going to landfill. (December 2006) Critters in the Soygurts We've learned that the Wildberry and Strawberry soygurts contain the colouring agent cochineal (120), which is made from the cochineal insect, a scale insect. The manufacturer informs us that when they didn't add the colouring, the soygurts were brown in colour, which apparently wasn't very attractive. They said if there was enough demand to remove it, they would considering doing so. You can email them with your comments if you like by clicking here. in line with Alfalfa House's objects, we've discontinued these two varieties. The others – natural, vanilla, peach+mango and banana+passionfruit – are unaffected. (November 2006) Dips dip out We've reluctantly decided to discontinue the Delicious Dips hummus, babaghanouj, tsatsiki and pesto. The hummus and babaghanouj often went mouldy well before the use-by date. Efforts to remedy the problem so far haven't worked. (December 2006) Side wall mural gets the nod Our graffiti-strewn side wall is about to get a most welcome facelift. The building's owner has approved a mural for the wall along Philip Street; Marrickville Council will help fund the project; and we're running a competition to find a design. “We want to capture what the co-op is all about: wholesome organic food, care for ourselves and the planet and the inclusive nature of the place,� says Co-op Manager Sarah Cook. “We also want to include space for a blackboard in the design.� So, if you have some ideas or a sketch, we'd love to see them. Click here to email them. (November 2006) Oakland bans the plastic bag On July 17, Oakland's city council in California banned petroleum-based plastic bags distributed at retail stores doing a million dollars of business or more annually. As well, paper bag standards were enacted: they must be made of 40% post-consumer waste, have no old growth content, and be 100% recyclable. Retailers must also offer compostable plastic bags. The City Council's Public Works Committee, in forging the ban, said, "Globally, 500 billion to one trillion single-use disposable plastic bags are used each year . . . Almost 10 percent of U.S. oil consumption is used to make plastic, including single-use plastic bags, so discouraging their use advances the mission of the Oil Independent Oakland by 2020 taskforce." Culture Change July 19, 2007 The new gold When Camille Malfroy came to these shores in search of gold back in the 1850s, he probably didn't think his descendants 150 years later would still be wandering all over NSW in search of gold, albeit a different kind of gold – honey that is. But that's exactly what the modern-day Malfroys are up to. The Malfroys are migratory beekeepers, moving their hives in search of the best honey flow for their bees. They only sell what their bees produce and what they produce is simply extracted, settled and then poured into a drum. The honey is not overheated. You can check out the honey in the co-op right now. There's two from which to choose: Red Stringybark and Yellowbox. (July 2007) Facelift for the bins and jars All the bins, jars and dispensers in the shop have been relabelled to include the product's status (organic, biodynamic or standard) and country of origin. (April 2007) New advice service: Ask Rebecca Want to know what a particular product might be good for? Well, co-op member and naturopath, Rebecca Goldhurst has kindly offerred to answer member enquiries of a general nature about the foods we stock. Members can contact her by email, by clicking here. If you want to know whether a product is in stock, you'll either need to check the WHAT WE SELL list on Products. (September 2007) Passing on the true cost of EFTPOS Businesses that provide an EFTPOS facility are charged a fee for each transaction. While the co-op has always charged a fee on credit card transactions, we haven't applied it to shoppers using debit cards or EFTPOS transactions. However, transaction fees cost the co-op around $500 a month and we need to recoup that cost. So rather than include this cost in our product markups, as other businesses do, the co-op applies a surcharge on both credit card and debit card (e.g., VisaDebit) transactions and on EFTPOS (savings or cheque) transactions. Applying the charge is fairer than extending the cost to cash shoppers. The change was introduced on July 2, 2007. Famous graffiti graces our wall Who knows why renowned British graffiti artist Banksy chose our side wall to stencil a metre-high painting of a man wearing an old-fashioned divinghelmet. It's believed Banksy visited Sydney about five years ago and left a few wallpieces. Tugi Balog, who founded the curated street art gallery in Mays Lane, St Peters, believes "about three or four" examples of Banksy's work still exist in Sydney. The one on our wall is a reverse of one that appeared in a Melbourne laneway at roughly the same time, suggesting thefamously elusive British artist – not even his agent has met him – flipped his paper stencil after soaking one side with paint. The sale of a Banksy design on a wall in Notting Hill in London for £208,000 ($455,000) mid-January suggests our side wall may be more valuable than the building itself. Unfortunately, we don't own the building. However, if we ever get around to painting a mural on that grey stretch of wall, we'll have to find a way to incorporate Banksy. Graffiti artists keep the whereabouts of Banksy's other artworks secret because there are fears the rocketing price of his work could see the works removed, walls and all. "He [Banksy] painted with a few people I know and he's kept in touch with them," Balog says. "But within that culture they keep it quiet – they don't want too many to know about it." P.S. We nearly lost the diver when Marrickville Council's graffiti removers blasted the wall recently. Resilient as he is elusive, Banksy survived, albeit somewhat muted. Edited from a piece by Richard Jinman Arts Editor Sydney Morning Herald January 17, 2008 Organic food sales leap despite drought A new report from Australia's key organic certification body, the Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA), has found that organic produce growers have seen an 80 percent growth in farm-gate sales over the last four years, despite the widespread drought. The organic market is now worth around $230 million a year and there are 2750 certified growers in Australia. Australia now boasts the largest area of organic farmland in the world. The BFA's Andrew Monk says while sales of grains and beef have been slightly affected by factors such as drought, sales of fruit and vegetables are growing. ABC News July 22, 2008 Huge price reductions We've changed supplier for a number of functional foods (popularly referred to as "superfoods"). And prices have dropped dramatically. Our new supplier, Loving Earth, is a Melbourne-based company that buys organic and wildcrafted functional foodsdirectly from grower associations. The company says it's committed to making these foods available "in a way that honours both the indigenous people that have cultivated them for thousands of years and the earth and ecosystems in which they are grown." We're planning on introducing more new products from Loving Earth. In the meantime, here are six products that are now a lot cheaper, especially cacao butter. All prices are before member discounts. October 2008 PRODUCT LINE WAS (kg) NOW (kg) Cacao butter $105.00 $56.88 Goji berries $44.33 $36.75 Maca powder $75.30 $42.00 Mesquite powder $68.25 $42.00 Cacao beans $94.50 $42.00 Cacao powder $62.80 $33.30 AH voted best fruit and veg shop in theinner west Alfalfa House has been voted Best Fruit and Vegetable Store in 2007's Inner West Local Business Awards. A big thanks to all those who voted for us. Peanut butter crisis The co-op has run out of Australian organic roasted peanuts to feed the peanut butter making machine. We can't get any more until March 2009. We can get standard (i.e., conventionally-grown) roasted peanuts, but want to be guided by our members whether to or not. So, next time you're in the co-op why not pop your suggestion into the wooden Suggestions Box near the breads or email the Groceries Coordinator by clicking here. There's another option: ditch the peanuts in favour of freshly-ground roasted organic cashew butter, which we currently have in the machine or you could try our freshly-ground almond butter instead. Let us know what you think. Free co-op calendar 2009 Don't forget to pick up your free Alfalfa House calendar or download it here and print your own. Each calendar features a number of coupons, which members can redeem for free samples and gifts. Bundanoon Australia's first bottled water-free town The town of Bundanoon, in the NSW Southern Highlands, 150 km south west of Sydney, has banned bottled water. A packed town meeting in early July voted overwhelmingly to require businesses to neither sell nor give away bottled water within the town precinct. To compensate, Bundanoon is expanding drinking water facilities in the town – businesses will make available for sale reusable drink bottles and chilled filtered tap water, whilst free filtered water stations or 'bubblers' will also be provided for the public and primary school children. Read more (Not quite) Nigella visits and likes what she sees, especially our vanilla beans Read all about it Guerrilla gardener movement takes root in L.A. This garden brims with lime-hued succulents and a lush collection of agaves, one shooting spiky leaves three metres into the air, and it's a smack in the middle of Long Beach's asphalt jungle. But the gardener who designed this head-turning garden doesn't want you to know his last name, since his handiwork isn't exactly legit. It's on a traffic island he commandeered. "The city wasn't doing anything with it, and I had a bunch of extra plants," says Scott. Scott is a guerrilla gardener, a member of a burgeoning movement of enthusiasts who plant without approval on land that's not theirs. To read the whole story click here. Our decrepit food factories point to looming breakdown For years now, critics have been speaking of modern industrial agriculture as “unsustainable�, though what form the “breakdown� might take or when it might happen has never been certain. Would the aquifers run dry? The pesticides stop working? The soil lose its fertility? All these breakdowns have been predicted and they may yet come to pass. But if a system is unsustainable — if its workings offend the rules of nature — the cracks and signs of breakdown may show up in the most unexpected times and places. Two recent stories in the news, stories that on their faces would seem to have nothing to do with each other let alone with agriculture, may point to an imminent breakdown in the way we're growing food today. To read the full story, click here. Gravity bin makeover done After a year of fundraising, carpentry, measuring and remeasuring and adjustments and moving stock every whichway, the instal is complete; all the gravity feed bins are now in. A big thank you to all who donated, big and small, and to those who installed the bins; it proves the old adage that many hands do indeed make light work. Unfortunately stock has moved a bit as a result, so you might want to reacquaint yourself with the shop layout. Here's a map to help. Ask a Shop Coordinator (person on the cash register) if necessary. The makeover has been funded by cash and in-kind donations from both members and some of our suppliers, including AlterEco Pacific (in-kind chocolates), Australian Pumpkin Seed Co, Honest to Goodness ($400), Olive Green Organics (in-kind for two bins), Organic Trader (in-kind chocolates), Sonoma Baking Company (in-kind maple syrup-flavoured toasted muesli as well as cash), Loving Earth (in-kind chocolate and cocnut sugar), Demeter Farm Mill ($100) and Spiral Foods. (December 2009) The limits to brown rice While we do have a stable supply of Australian-grown organic short-grain brown rice, Australian-grown organic long-grain brown rice is unavailable and there won't be any more for now. As there are quarantine restrictions on imported organic brown rice, we're stocking non-organic long-grain brown rice instead as well as a number of other rices, most of which are Fair Trade and grown more sustainably in Thailand. To read more about the global rice shortage, click here. Feeding the 5000 in Trafalgar Square by Bonnie Alter, London Dec. 17, 2009 via TreeHugger Despite the rain, sleet and cold, hundreds waited in line for their free lunch of hot curried vegetables and toast in London's TrafalgarSquare on Dec. 17. Others queued for free groceries, and others for fresh fruit smoothies. But it was a bit more than a soup kitchen. "Feeding the 5000", as it was called, was organised to highlight the global problem of food waste. All the food was donated by local farmers, packers and supermarkets. The fruit and veg had been rejected because theywere imperfectly shaped, past their sell-by date or the wrong size or shape. The veg were turned into hot vegetable curry and the fruits blended into smoothies, driven by a bicycle-powered blender. The event was organised by FareShare and other charities as well as food activist Tristram Stuart, who was inspired by the Biblical story of the feeding of the five thousand. In London alone, 750,000 slices of bread are thrown away by consumers every day, and 176,000 bananas – although household waste represents less than 40% of total food wastage. In fact retailers and manufacturers are responsible for most of it. The group This is Rubbish wants the UK government to introduce an obligation upon retailers to reduce food waste, whereby all retailers are required to report on the food waste they generate, with annual reports audited and publicised by an independent commission. Food waste isn't confined to rich countries: even in places where people go hungry, farmers can lose up to a half of their crops because they lack the basic agricultural infrastructure to get it to market before it spoils. Fareshare is Britain's largest food redistribution charity, collecting surplus food from supermarkets and manufacturers and delivering it to homeless shelters and other community centres. More Film Night Funraiser* FEATURE FILM: Food, Inc. “Bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won’t go bad – filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on the food industry, exposing the underbelly of big corporation food production and the dangers it presents. Food Inc touches on issues of consumer health, the livelihood of farmers, worker safety and what is happening to our environment, often with the consent of regulatory agencies.� PLUS A SURPRISE SHORT FILM BEFORE THE FEATURE Thursday September 30 7pm (food+music) for 8pm (film) The Red Rattler 6 Faversham Street Marrickville $20 full/$10 concession includes homemade hearty organic soup with sourdough bread Drinks and sweet treats on sale MUSIC: The Thingos, featuring Lisa McIntosh on piano and Paul Hayward on guitar RAFFLE: Organic olive oil and wine hamper donated by member Rhys Goodey of Ark Wine Agencies plus a Lucky Door Prize All funds raised will go towards improving the co-op. This year it’s to buy new nut butter machines or to repair our two existing machines, which are getting close to their use-by dates. *because it's also about having fun as much as raising funds for Alfalfa. More on Food, Inc.