‘Rather help Africans than locals’

(By Philipp Rosskopf - Bond University Journalism Student)

A Varsity Lakes bakery has refused to support local charity organisations despite lots of unsold baked goods ending up in the trash.

Moshi’s Bakery manager Vishal Goel blames, what he calls, the hypocrisy of the Australian welfare for his Bakery’s non-donation policy.

“At first they [the social services] encourage you to donate food to the poor, but if these people get sick for any reason, it’s also you they sue,” he said.

“That’s why sometimes we send at least some of the unsold pastry to Africa, where the people are grateful without conditions.”

Hope Church Pastor Christian Kahnt appreciates food offerings to stave off the homeless’ hunger in Gold Coast, but he also knows the regulations of the Food Health Standards.

“When local shop owners leave their food to us for charity they have to take care the distribution cold chain is always maintained,” he said.

“I see that these strict guidelines discourage businessmen to donate, but then I wonder why they often produce much more food than customers can buy.”

Mr Goel said the main reason for producing a surplus of bakery is due to the ups and downs of customer numbers.

“For example, I’m not aware of Bond University’s academic calendar, which often confronts me with an unexpected absence of student customers,” he said.

“Of course it’s sad to throw away edible food, but large supermarket chains, like Coles and Woolworths, act much more wastefully than a small bakery ever could.”

According to a 2009 FoodWise study two million Australians rely on food relief every day and half of them are children.