The BANSIC Food Hub provides food assistance to residents of southern Banyule who are struggling with food security. Clients are provided with a range of groceries, such as fresh produce, eggs, meat, pantry items and bread, all free of charge.

The hub is open from midday to 3pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Members of the Banyule community who are in a financial crisis can access their service by ringing them on 9459 5959 to request a food parcel. The food parcels can be accessed generally every 2 weeks for eligible clients.

The hub’s supporters include SecondBite, Foodbank, Aldi, Woolworths and Sustainable MacLeod. SecondBite, Foodbank and Aldi donate non-perishable pantry items, fresh fruit and vegetables. Woolworths in Heidelberg donate eggs. Sustainable Macleod donates locally grown vegetables.

FareShare rescues food that would otherwise go to waste and cooks it into free nutritious meals for people in need. In Melbourne, with the help of 900 regular volunteers, it cooks around 5,500 free meals a day (i.e. around 1.3 million meals a year) for charities such as soup vans, homeless shelters, women’s refuges and community food banks. Its rescued food comes from supermarkets, wholesalers, farmers and other businesses (they have eight vans that collect produce from Woolworths stores and others). By avoiding food waste, and diverting surplus, edible food from landfill, it also reduces greenhouse gases. Its Melbourne headquarters is in Abbotsford.

Fareshare is a charity which relies on donations. Donate now.

Sourcing enough fresh vegetables to add nutrition to meals is one of FareShare’s biggest challenges. It now has three sites in and around Melbourne where it grows its own vegetables, harvesting around 40 tonnes per year. One of those sites is in Abbotsford, which was previously disused VicTrack land but now grows a range of vegetables on 70 beds tended by volunteers, who are overseen by a Garden Manager. The choice of vegetables grown is dictated by the needs of the kitchen, which means that there is a focus on capsicums, carrots, celery, eggplants, leeks, parsnips, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, turnip and zucchini.

FareShare has written a manual to share their experiences of urban food production. Subjects covered include: crops grown and yield; soil; composting; integrated pest management; crop rotation; and companion planting. Click here to download.

Montrose Community Cupboard is much more than a community pantry and undertakes a wide range of activities in pursuit of its mission to rescue food from landfill and re-distribute it to the local community.

They have two community pantries, a weekly Saturday market and monthly community meals.

The two community pantries are located at Japara Bridge House, 49 Durham Road, Kilsyth and Montrose Church of Christ, 7 Leith Road, Montrose. The Kilsyth pantry is open 24/7 whilst the Montrose one is open Monday-Saturday 7am-9pm and Sunday midday-8pm. Members of the public can take what they want and are also invited to leave veggies, fruit, herbs, plants, seeds, seedlings or any non-perishable items.

The weekly market is on Saturdays, 3-4pm at either Japara Bridge House, 49 Durham Road, Kilsyth or Montrose Scout Hall, Unit 2/950, Mount Dandenong Tourist Road, Montrose. See their website for which markets will be at which locations. All the food at the market is free.

The free, monthly, two course, community meals are usually on the 4th Sunday of each month, 6-7.30pm, at Montrose Public Hall, 1B Leith Road, Montrose. Everyone is welcome, as are donations of non-perishable food. During winter (June and August), there will be a lunchtime meal instead, with the team taking a break for the month of July. Read an article about the meals in the Lilydale Star Mail.

Finally, they have a street library (books, dvds, etc) at 16 St James Avenue, Montrose.

The Food Collective is an initiative of Diamond Valley Community Support which brings together a number of local delivery and donation partners, community organisations and individuals to address food security challenges for vulnerable and disadvantaged community members in the Diamond Valley Region. They do this by sourcing and supplying basic non-perishable food parcels of everyday necessities to those who are experiencing financial crisis and needing emergency relief assistance.

One of its main initiatives to date has been the establishment of community pantries around Banyule and Nillumbik. These pantries contain non-perishable food which is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, require no appointments and are open to whoever needs food.

Their philosophy is give what you can, take what you need, with people able to donate to the pantry as well.

Their pantries are in:

• Diamond Creek (St Johns Diamond Creek). Open 24/7.
• Eltham (Eltham Lions Club). Open 24/7.
• Eltham (St Margaret’s Anglican Church). Open 24/7 and managed by LINC.
• Hurstbridge (Hurstbridge Community Hub). Open 24/7 and managed by the Vines Baptist Church.
• Panton Hill (Panton Hill Living & Learning Centre). Open 24/7 and managed by the living & learning centre.
• Rosanna (Rosanna Fire Station Community House). Open 24/7 and managed by the community house.
• Strathewen (Strathewen Primary School). Open 24/7 and managed by the school.
• Warrandyte (Warrandyte Neighbourhood House). Open Wednesdays, 10am-midday and managed by Carenet.
• Watsonia (Watsonia Neighbourhood House). Open 24/7 and managed by the neighbourhood house.

Whittlesea Food Collective aims to develop an integrated response to people experiencing hardship, where the response includes food production and distribution, plant and food-based enterprises, recycling and waste reduction and learning and employment pathways. It delivers individuals with fresh, nourishing food, free of cost, to eligible residents in the City of Whittlesea.

It also provides opportunities for people to volunteer and participate in community activities (see application form). And it accepts donations (see donations form).

Its resources include a demonstration veggie garden and a commercial kitchen.

Whittlesea Food Collective is a partnership between Whittlesea Community Connections and the Whittlesea Emergency Relief Network. It is part of a broader project, the Whittlesea Community Farm and Food Collective, which is a partnership between Whittlesea Community Connections, Yarra Valley Water, Melbourne Polytechnic and City of Whittlesea.