Give a Fork!

Give a Fork! is an annual campaign run by Sustainable Table aimed at bringing about positive change through the food we eat. The campaign gets people thinking about the environmental and ethical impact of the food we buy, whilst bringing the sexy back into caring. That’s why we’ve coined the term Grexy*.

Because taking care of the planet is way sexier than trashing it.

Unfortunately Give a Fork! will not be taking place in 2017 as our general manager and only paid employee Cassie Duncan will be taking some time out to have a BABY! Yes, she’s swapping her work baby for the other, but please sign up to our database to stay informed about other activities throughout the year and general Give a Fork! updates.

Give a Fork! Campaign 2016.

In 2016, there were two ways in which participants could engage in the campaign – through participating in a ‘#grexy* eco–challenge’ and/or by dining on a ‘Give a Fork! special’ at a participating restaurant.

1. The grexy eco-challenge

Challenge 1:
#Grexy Teaser

Cut the disposable cup, carry a drink bottle and request your drinks shaken, not strawed.

Challenge 2:
Halfway to #Grexy

Make meat a treat, get your veg on and commit to meat–free weekdays for a month.

Challenge 3:
Drop Dead #Grexy

The ultimate 30–day crash course – a perfect intro to sustainable living. Attempt to fit all your landfill waste for the month into one container and learn how to incorporate sustainable eating.

2. Dine at a participating cafe or restaurant

Restaurants from around the country were engaged to develop and sell a Give a Fork! special following our 4 food rules. Restaurants then donated a portion of sales from the dish to Sustainable Table.

The aim was to encourage restaurants to:

review their supply chain and seek out truly free range meats and sustainable seafood
review their menu and increase representation of vegetarian dishes
seek local producers
seek organic produce
review their kitchen waste and look at ways of reducing it
promote their food philosophies to increase awareness of issues amongst their patrons.

A total of 101 restaurants around the country signed up to the campaign.

The Give a Fork! Food Rules

Rule 1

Make plants the hero

Celebrate vegetables by making them the focus of your dish and show your customers just how delicious they can be. Reducing our meat intake is a powerful way of reducing our impact on the environment and curbing climate change.

51% of global emissions
Livestock and their by-products account for a whopping 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.

Rule 2

Choose truly free range or organic meat or sustainable seafood

If you choose to make your dish a meaty one, ensure it’s truly free range and feature less popular cuts.

For information on free range and sustainable seafood options visit sustainabletable.org.au

500m+ animals in factory farms
Over 500 million animals are housed in factory farms each year in Australia alone.

80% of the world’s fish stocks are fully exploited or overexploited, which means we simply can’t keep eating seafood the way we are.

Rule 3

Use at least one edible ingredient that commonly gets discarded in kitchens and celebrate it

Think animal bones, vegie peels, broccoli stems, snapper wings, weeds, herb stems and celery tops. Tell customers why it’s delicious and shouldn’t be binned.

Food waste 3rd biggest emitter
Did you know that if food waste was a country, it’d be the 3rd biggest greenhouse gas emitter after the USA and China. Let’s show people how to get creative with reducing food waste.

Rule 4

Know the provenance of the ingredients

“Fish and Chips? Sorry, what fish? Where is it from? How was it caught?”

“Vegetable ratatouille. Ummm, are the vegies from the state you’re in, another state or China?”

Where does it really come from?
We’ve lost sight of where our food actually comes from which is half the battle, so let’s change this.

Outcomes From 2016 Give a Fork! Campaign.

A grand total of $36,282 was raised during Give a Fork! 2016 and we started a bit of a movement, with the #grexy tag being used over 11,000 times on Instagram and Facebook!

298 people participated in our #Grexy Challenges and a total of $8,282 was raised!

Challenge 1:
#Grexy Teaser

80%

of #Grexy Teaser participants no longer order coffee in a disposable cup!

60%

Now ask for their drink without a straw or carry their own.

43%

Started recycling better in general.

Challenge 2:
Halfway to #Grexy

83%

of Halfway to #Grexy participants reduced their meat intake.

71%

now eat more vegetables!

60%

Now think about where they can purchase so that more money reaches the producer.

Challenge 3:
Drop Dead #Grexy

41%

of Drop Dead #Grexy participants now take their own containers to the shops.

63%

reduced plastic packaging.

50%

dramatically reduced their landfill!

Outcomes – Cafe + Restaurants Campaign.

101 restaurants all over Australia participated and raised $28,000. Almost 10,000 specials were sold!

The top 10 fundraising restaurants were:

Pei Modern
Barry
Embla
Hash Specialty Coffee & Roaster
Tucker St (weekly meal delivery service)

What People Had to Say.

“I thought this was something which I should be doing every day. I have a Keep Cup and I buy 1-2 coffees everyday (mostly takeaway). It’s easy and achievable. What I didn’t expect, was how using my keep cup made me think about other ways I can reduce my single use waste. I started using cloth napkins and bought some keep leafs to pack my son’s lunch. I’ve also started using plates and tea towels to cover food in the fridge. It was a great simple achievable challenge which shifted my thinking to avoid single use in other aspects of my life.”

Give a Fork! One.

“I found once I’d started it just became second nature. I found other people noticed my keep cup and friends started talking and making that change also without me telling them what to do or why… I was SHOWING them!”

Give a Fork! Two.

“I am so glad I signed up for this challenge. I kept track of the number of times I would have used a takeaway coffee cup or plastic cup in the month had I not been doing the challenge – and it blew my mind! I was able to identify all the opportunities I had to say no to plastic (on flights I now make sure I have my Joco cup, at conferences and work seminars etc). Participating in this challenge
has definitely been a habit-changing experience for me!”

Give a Fork! Three.

“The give a fork campaign is an amazing idea! I signed up for the Halfway to Grexy, so meat free weekdays. I wasn’t going to pressure myself into completely changing my lifestyle but before I knew it meat free weekdays turned into meat free weeks! Plastic bags turned into cloths bags. Disposable cups are now a thing of the past! Herbs are popping up all around my house and are thriving (how did that happen!) If a product has too much packaging I simply won’t buy it anymore! So much can change in a month when you’re given the tools and knowledge to better yourself. Staying healthy is so important, you are what you eat after all you only have one body so take care of it! But don’t forget we only have one planet so let’s give it some love!”

Give a Fork! Four.

“The Clever Cook eBook was brilliant. I can’t believe I fed cauliflower leaves to my kids and they went “Yum!” I’ve been after that style of cooking for years. I also loved the daily emails and I think I’m going to miss them. I also discovered a few great bloggers. All in all, it was terrific.”

Give a Fork! Five.

“The Give a Fork! 2016 Campaign has taught me so much about the part I play in the food I buy, where I buy it and how I buy it. My life has changed because of this challenge and I will be forever grateful for the information and education I received. I’m a more aware and healthier person because of it and I hope I can influence others in their journey to ‘be the change they want to see in our world’. Thank you x”

Give a Fork! Six.

“I had such a great time participating. I would never have committed myself to boycotting disposable plastics this much had I not being doing it as part of a greater campaign. I’m sad that the month is over! I’ve loved being connected to a wider community who cares about sustainability and from whom I have learnt so much.”

Give a Fork! Seven.

“Thank you so much Sustainable Table team, this campaign taught us so much more! Every day when the emails came through it was like you were reading my mind about the next thing I was curious about. I love all the statistics and real information and enjoyed that it was delivered in a gentle and fun way without provoking worry or shame.”

Give a Fork! Eight.

“I’m not great with words, but I do want to say Thank you! I have been using the Sustainable Table resources since you were known as Yaubula, I was SO happy when I found your sustainable seafood guide, I’ve learnt a lot about milk from reading articles you’ve posted, and this campaign has helped to keep many of the current issues I face in the forefront of my mind. I have been able to really think about how I can change certain habits, and make more grexy choices. I feel really confident that I am slowly setting myself up for an extremely minimal waste lifestyle, and this makes me really excited!”

Give a Fork! Nine.