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Share a plate with a mate to support OzHarvest

share a plate with a mate

Digital campaign #Cook2Connect is encouraging consumers to “share a plate with a mate,” reminding Australians about the benefits of meal times, while raising funds for OzHarvest. 

Coordinated by MGI Entertainment, #Cook2Connect builds on the success of its 2020 campaign #HomeCooked which helped OzHarvest deliver an additional 300,000 meals to Australians experiencing food insecurity. 

There has never been such a high demand for food relief in Australia, with OzHarvest experiencing a 47 per cent increase in demand over the past 12 months. 

“The last year has been challenging for everyone and we’ve seen so many new people turning to charities for the first time in their lives,” OzHarvest head of Impact Ashley Killeen said. 

“The generosity and support from the community has been amazing and we are so thankful for MGI Entertainment and the #Cook2Connect campaign, helping to raise valuable funds. Every dollar donated allows us to deliver two meals to Australians in need.” 

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Australia, OzHarvest has: 

  • Diverted 13,311,880kg of food from landfill, via its Food Rescue program 
  • Provided 48,602,772 meals to food insecure Australians 
  • Created 892,487 cooked meals for food insecure Australians 

Plated up between September and October, the digital campaign will see culinary icons such as Manu and Clarissa Feildel, Jason Roberts, Tom Walton and more provide home cooks with nourishing recipes to connect with loved ones and give back to the community.  

The campaign will bring viewers inside the chefs’ kitchens. Each will show how to prepare dishes that are personally meaningful to the chef, while they share the intimate memories behind the meals. 

Audiences will be inspired to share a meal with a loved one and make a donation to OzHarvest, to help provide a meal to those in need.  

“Cook2Connect’s ‘Share a Plate with a Mate’ is a creative and practical way to help Australians re-engage with the community, following what has been a particularly lonely time for many,” Manu Fieldel said. 

“I am really proud to be a part of this important cause.” 

Research from the University of Oxford revealed that the more people eat with others, the more likely they are to feel less loneliness and stress, and more happiness and connection. 

“It’s no secret that community is not what it used to be. The village is gone and many people find themselves alone in our globalised single-order delivery society,” MGI Entertainment general manager Byron Keane said. 

“Yet right under the surface of the mental health pandemic is a vaccine that’s tested and approved over millennia – sharing food together.”  

#Cook2Connect “Share a Plate with a Mate” is supported by a range of Australian food and cooking brands including Perfection Fresh, D’Orsogna, Kenwood, Nature Nate’s Honey, NH Foods Australia, Patak’s, Rio Vista Olives and TEFAL, with more supporters to be announced soon. 

For more information, visit https://www.plateforamate.com 

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