Food waste and food insecurity are two sides of the same coin, affecting both people and the planet: one-third of all food produced is wasted, contributing to 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emission; at the same time, food insecurity is increasing across the board, even in cities like Melbourne.
To start tackling this wicked problem, social enterprise STREAT founded and led Moving Feast, a network of food systems organisations collaborating for a connected, fair and regenerative Victorian food system. MAKE plays a key role in this collaboration, contributing to projects and ongoing initiatives to develop circular products and business models that address food waste and food insecurity.
Our partnership with Moving Feast takes an open innovation approach that actively engages a broad range of stakeholders across MAKE’s key capabilities of research, system mapping, workshop facilitation and strategic design.
As part of the Open Sauce project, MAKE interviewed 12 Moving Feast partners to understand the reasons for food and other waste. We contributed to developing a waste audit tool and visualised the complexity of the food ecosystem to create stakeholder buy-in.
Throughout this process, we supported STREAT and other hospitality organisations who created, tested and sold circular products with storytelling and communication materials including visualising complex systems.
One of MAKE’s key contributions to the Moving Feast initiative, as part of both the Open Sauce and Crowd Sauce projects has been developing and facilitating low-waste cooking workshops, recipes and materials.
These workshops use storytelling and strategies to create positive behaviour change to support the circular economy and are grounded in behaviour change techniques. They are designed to build capability through giving participants hands-on experience in the Moving Feast Kitchen at the Purpose Precinct at Queen Victoria Market. Participants see what is possible, reframe their relationship with food waste and feel confident to use their new skills to reduce food waste in their own kitchens.
“The open innovation framework that you use really draws in collaboration; this project (Open Sauce) is an excellent example of how collaboration enables success.”
– Emily Adamson | Team Lead | Circular Economy Business Innovation Centre (CEBIC) | Sustainability Victoria
STREAT has so far created:
MAKE has worked with STREAT and other collaborators to:
Together, STREAT and MAKE are using the insights gained from our collaboration to create a longer-term strategy to further effect system change related to waste recovery, circular product design, and community engagement.
Looking ahead to 2040, MAKE is contributing to a long-term, scalable environmental strategy for the Purpose Precinct as STREAT’s onsite innovation partner.
