The Board decided at its meeting last week that annual membership fees for 2021/2 will be $290/annum ($145 six monthly) with a $10 surcharge for a hard copy of Rotary Down Under.
Committee composition is being finalised and will be announced shortly.
Guest Speaker: Kat Heinrich - Stopping the Food Waste
David Middleton introduced Kat who is a director and associate consultant at Rawtec. She regularly provides advice to organisations on a range of waste management & sustainability issues. Kat has undertaken key work for state and federal governments including disaster waste management, state waste accounting and waste and resource recovery infrastructure planning. She is most passionate about reducing food waste and transitioning towards a circular economy.
Kat brings an international perspective on solid waste management. She is a past chair of the Young Professionals Group of International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) and works with the group on a range of global waste initiatives. She has reviewed best-practice food waste initiatives from several international cities and won the 2017 Green Industries SA Women in Circular Economy Leadership Award.
Over the past decade Kat, whilst with Rawtec, Kat has worked with contributors along the whole food chain from the growers to those responsible for waste disposal. The wastage is massive. Globally it is estimated that 1/3rd of food is wasted, and here in Australia 20% hits the bin, which is estimated to cost $20b per annum. The broader impacts include 8% extra emission of greenhouse gases and 25 % water and fertiliser overuse. Despite our food abundance 1 in 5 Australians lack food security.
On the home front the gremlins include too much shopping when hungry, overcooking, changes in meal plans and inattention to use-by dates. Supermarkets thrive on this behaviour by encouraging over-buying through their overstocking of shelves, and only offering unblemished (cosmetic) products. There is also a significant mismatch between the approaches adopted by growers, food manufacturers and food service deliverers.
The problem is cultural and systemic;
abundance is given a big tick
there is abuse of market power by the supermarkets
no penalties apply to wastage
people are busy and too time poor to make the best of choices
We are disconnected! Some areas of improvement are coming through.eg
Legislation like in France forcing larger food retailers to distribute surplus food to linked charities and in San Francisco where sorting of food waste is mandatory.
Business models like Hello Fresh where demand and supply are matched. Upcycling of food (eg vegemite) and composting helps reduce waste.
Technological - US examples include: Zestlab which gives priority in the distribution network to the produce most at risk; Blue Cast which reduces ordering errors by chefs; and the connection of food donors with charities. In Australia we have strong examples like Ozharvest and Foodbank. In Korea diners are fined for leftovers (and still look far leaner than we do).
Australia has a National Food Waste Strategy with the aim of halving food wastage by 2030. Kat provided the following ideas for us to deliver on that aim:
1. Reduce our food waste at home. A smart way is to reorder our fridge so that one shelf is set aside for items that need to be consumed soonest.
2. Do an audit of waste in your business.
3. Become a champion for change.
Other initiatives would include using more of the certified green bags for composting waste, backload packaging, redesign the food system to provide a better match between supply and demand, and shorten the supply chains.
Kat was thanked by acclamation for her passionate contribution
Spots
Paul Duke made a further plea for wine donations for the ROMAC event - next week please.
Trevor McGuirk related that the son of one of his project-related Peruvian friends is in ICU with Covid. It is awful over there!
Finale
Stephen was very happy with the achievements of Ash Barty and jockey Jamie Kah. While Patsy was ecstatic that her son was finally able to leave Oman and return to Australia.
Greg again won the filthy lucre and Brendan and Jerry plundered the fruchocs.
President Nathan's thought for the day/week was along the lines of never looking back but some of us like to know how far in front we are!
The meeting closed at 7.42pm.....a new record. And this bulletin has therefore been completed in almost record time. Maybe we could have Trevor and Ken serenade us with suitable rock and roll songs when propitious moments like this occur.
Please note that the Secretary's (Greg's) email address for all secretarial matters is now secretary@unleyrotary.org.au and our club's web address is unleyrotary.org.au
ROTARY NEWS
Food bags fill void left by pandemic
By Roger Bjoroy-Karlsen, Rotary Club of Roatan, Bay Islands,Honduras
Below, members of the Rotary Club of Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras, check names off a list as they distribute food bags on the island of St. Helene.
I am on a small boat fully loaded with food bags headed for the people of St. Helene, a small island about two miles long and one mile wide, separated by a canal from the island of Roatan. Roatan is the largest of the Bay Islands located off the northern coast of Honduras.
As the waves are striking our boat, my thoughts wander to the approximate 1,000 people in 218 households who are in need of the food we’re delivering. Many of whom have no income because they lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. St. Helene has no roads and no infrastructure. Its people are descendants of African slaves brought by the British to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands who then migrated to Roatan after gaining their freedom in the 1830’s.
Last year they got electricity for the first time. And 14 months ago, as the first part of a Rotary global grant, members completed a fresh water project. Phase two of the grant has been approved.
We landed on a Friday in September 2020 at a dock that was built by grant money and the effort of Rotary members. Our trip could not have happened without funds from the Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar (Ontario, Canada) and the Rotary Club of Evergreen (Colorado, USA).
600 masks
250 face shields
bags with food for roughly 30 days
In addition to the food, we provided 600 N95 masks and 250 face shields to residents of St. Helene thanks to a donation from Michael McCarry of Mount Sinai Hospitals in New York City, New York. A special thanks to Sterling Lucas and his boat captains who brought us to the island.
The islanders received their bags of provisions as they were checked off of a list. They then loaded into their boats and flipped up their umbrellas and went back to their homes either by sea or along crooked paths around the island. The bags will provide each family with enough food to live on for about a month.
It was great to see their renewed hope for the future as the supplies gave them the ability to look beyond this pandemic. This is what Rotary is about, Service Above Self and bringing new hope to parts of the world.
Coffee Chat at Impressa, Unley Shopping Centre
10.30 am on the first Friday of the month is good for a chat with Rotary friends and a caffeine fix! Next one is Friday 6 August
Upcoming Meetings
Tuesday 20 July 2021 6 for 6.30pm Damien on Fisher
Guest Speaker: John Crowhurst The legacy of anaesthesia events at Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941
Set-up and Welcome.......Brenton Judge and Brendan Kenny
Tuesday 27 July 2021 6 for 6.30pm Damien on Fisher
Event: Christmas in July with guest speaker Dr Brian Lamb from Royal Flying Doctor Service Up, Up and Away
Set-up and Welcome.......Patsy Beckett and Valerie Bonython
Early: David Middleton & Nathan White | Late: Pam Trimmer & Vera Holt
Week 4: 24 July 2021
Early: Stephen Baker & Judi Corcoran | Late: Jason Booth & Vera-Ann Stacy
Week 5: 31 July 2021
Early: Bob Mullins & Wendy Andrews | Late: Jerry Casburn & Reno Elms
Rotarians, who are unable to attend as rostered, please arrange a swap or as a very last resort contact: Pam Trimmer (T) 8293 2612; (M) 0415 238 333; e-mail: pamela.trimmer@bigpond.com
Bunnings Mile End and Mitre 10 Barbeques
ALL the Bunnings Mile End Barbeque shifts are from 8am to 5pm
The Mitre 10 BBQs are the first and third Saturdays of each month (commencing 9am).....next one Saturday 17 July
The Tale End.....
Scandinavian reflection
A young ventriloquist is touring Norway and puts on a show in a small fishing town. With his dummy on his knee, he starts going through his usual dumb blonde jokes.
Suddenly, a blonde woman in the fourth row stands on her chair and starts shouting, "I've heard enough of your stupid blonde jokes. What makes you think you can stereotype Norwegian blonde women that way? What does the colour of a woman's hair have to do with her worth as a human being? Its men like you who keep women like me from being respected at work and in the community, and from reaching our full potential as people. Its people like you that make others think that all blondes are dumb! You and your kind continue to perpetuate discrimination against not only blondes, but women in general, pathetically all in the name of humour!”
The embarrassed ventriloquist begins to apologize, and the blonde interrupts him yelling, "You stay out of this! I’m talking to that little shit on your lap."
Thought for the week
“It would be nice to spend billions on schools and roads, but right now that money is desperately needed for political ads.” – Andy Borowitz
David Middleton introduced Kat who is a director and associate consultant at Rawtec. She regularly provides advice to organisations on a range of waste management & sustainability issues. Kat has undertaken key work for state and federal governments including disaster waste management, state waste accounting and waste and resource recovery infrastructure planning. She is most passionate about reducing food waste and transitioning towards a circular economy.
I am on a small boat fully loaded with food bags headed for the people of St. Helene, a small island about two miles long and one mile wide, separated by a canal from the island of Roatan. Roatan is the largest of the Bay Islands located off the northern coast of Honduras.
Last year they got electricity for the first time. And 14 months ago, as the first part of a Rotary global grant, members completed a fresh water project. Phase two of the grant has been approved.
