Free meal program comes to Carlton

A new free food initiative has been launched in Carlton to help address food insecurity amid the cost-of-living crisis. 

Born from the success of our Local Lunch Club program, the FareShare Library Feeds Initiative was created through a partnership between the City of Melbourne and not-for-profit organisation FareShare. 

As of July 10, healthy frozen meals have been available for people to take during opening hours in the foyer of the Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre located at 251 Faraday St in Carlton.

Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece said that last year, one in three people in the City of Melbourne experienced a degree of food insecurity and that the initiative sought to make it easier for members of the community to access free, hot meals. 

“With a huge helping hand from FareShare, we’re offering 400 free, nutritious meals a month to community members that can be collected with no questions asked in the heart of Carlton,” Cr Reece said. 

Meals are available for pick up during library opening hours and community members can take up to two meals a day, with the option to microwave these on-site. There will be clearly-marked halal, vegetarian, and other options available, too. 

FareShare is a charity that operates Australia’s largest not-for-profit kitchens in Melbourne and Brisbane where chefs and volunteers work hand-in-hand to cook the best possible meal for every person in need.

According to the food rescue charity, the need for meal relief has never been higher with the soaring cost of living, frequent natural disasters and the lingering effects of the pandemic hurting millions of Australians.

On June 4, the council endorsed its “2024-2034 Food City Policy”, which outlines its vision to address food insecurity and its intention to advocate, lead, partner and deliver initiatives that foster “food justice” by providing people with “dignified and equitable access”. 

The purpose of the food policy is to provide an overarching vision and framework to uphold coordinated decision-making to strengthen the local food system, food economy and people’s access to safe, affordable, culturally appropriate, and fresh food.

The partnership between the council and FareShare is the latest of a number of food security programs recently launched at Kathleen Syme.

Cook to Connect, run in partnership with cohealth, is a free fortnightly cooking class series held at the library and, while the Local Lunch Club, run in partnership with Open Table, provides community members with a hot meal in a socially inclusive space. 

“Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre is now a hub for access to food and cooking tips,” the Lord Mayor said. •