Collaborative food rescue group Chefs with Compassion reached a staggering milestone in December 2024. The organisation has served more than 7,500 000 meals to hungry people in food-vulnerable areas of South Africa, using nearly 2 million tons of donated food that would otherwise have gone to waste.
The South African Food Security Index 2024 clearly shows that there is a huge need in South Africa, with the country’s food security plummeting to its lowest levels in more than a decade.
The Index indicates that on average, more South Africans are experiencing greater levels of food deprivation than any year since records began in 2012. By 2023, 11.8% of households said they were consuming a lower variety of food than usual given economic constraints. It’s no wonder then that feeding programmes are seeing more demand than ever.
Feeding thousands every week
Founded during the heart of lockdown in May 2020, Chefs with Compassion (CWC) operates through a network of compassionate chefs, cooks and community caterers who feed thousands of people every week. For most of these men, women and children, the meal they receive through Chefs with Compassion’s network of kitchens is the only meal they eat in a day.
More than 10 million tonnes of food goes to waste every year in South Africa. It’s a shocking fact – one-third of all the food produced in SA is waste – which is more than enough to feed every one of the 19 million people going hungry across the country. It is Chefs with Compassion’s mission to rescue and redirect as much of this perfectly good food as possible.
Through its network of community cooks, caterers and compassionate chefs, CWC cooks nourishing meals for food vulnerable people, ensuring that the cooked food reaches the people who need it most, through its approved beneficiary organisations.
A significant milestone
To date, the organisation has delivered 7,545,488 meals to food-vulnerable communities, in the process using 1,911,746 tons of perfectly good food that would otherwise have been discarded. Working with an expansive network of around 30 organisations supported by Chefs with Compassion, consisting mostly of volunteers that are supported by Chefs with Compassion, this amazing work has only been possible thanks to corporate donations and by rescuing food that would otherwise have gone to waste.
“Food poverty is a heartbreaking and pressing concern in our country. At SYSPRO we have chosen to be actively involved in making a difference. SYSPRO is proud to support Chefs with Compassion in their goal of providing nutritious meals to those in need, and we look forward to working with them during 2025 to reach an even bigger number of meals served,” says Mark Wilson, Chief Revenue Officer, SYSPRO.
Get involved
Food security and hunger is a crisis that cannot be solved alone. Members of the public who would like to support Chefs with Compassion, either through a once-off or recurring monthly donation, can do so via their website at https://cwc.org.za/donate. For more information on how to get involved or support Chefs with Compassion, email info@cwc.org.za.
