Everybody Eats is a not-for-profit, pay-as-you-feel dining concept. It takes food that would otherwise go to waste and turns it into restaurant quality meals. Customers can pay whatever they like, even if it's nothing, for nutritious and freshly prepared food. The project aims to be part of solving three huge problems we have in NZ: food waste, food poverty, and social isolation. Everybody Eats is not a soup kitchen, it provides diners with a three-course meal served at shared tables, which encourages interaction with volunteers and other diners.
Founded in June 2017, it began as very busy pop-up at Auckland's Gemmayze St Restaurant, and now operates permanently in the evenings at Te Whau Eatery, Avondale.
The pay-as-you-feel model is inclusive; it allows people who can afford to pay for a meal to do so, and perhaps contribute to future meals, while giving more vulnerable people an opportunity to enjoy a dignified experience without feeling any guilt or stigma. Everybody Eats work almost exclusively with food that would otherwise go to waste, the majority of which comes from New World Eastridge and Kiwiharvest. The organisation is hugely collaborative and has already worked with a lot of NZ's top chefs & restaurants.
Everybody Eats operates almost entirely with the help of willing volunteers. They have engaged more than 1000 people so far, many are regulars who can't get enough.
Click here if you are keen to get involved as a volunteer.
While it is a registered charity, Everybody Eats operates more like a social enterprise, that aims to break even by generating revenue through the pay-as-you-feel model. Because they feed so many of NZ's most vulnerable, including homeless, elderly and single parents that mostly don't pay or pay very little this can be challenging.
To do your bit to help feed people in need and see this award winning concept grow, you can contribute here.
Safe Food Pro is proud to support the amazing work Everybody Eats does in the community. Hunger is a global issue and we all need to take responsibility.
Visit Everybody Eats: www.everybodyeats.nz/
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