Rob Miller: filling the food insecurity gap

You initially studied law but quickly moved into education at Mount Scopus. What happened there?

I studied law because I got in and because I thought it might be interesting. As a 17-year-old pushed to make this big decision, I had people encouraging me to do it, and I didn't have a particular passion for studying anything else at the time. I thought law might be a good fit, but I spent the first half of my degree daring myself to quit and do something else, and the second half convincing myself that I'd come too far and should stick it out.

I was not the best student because I was really invested in doing other things during that time. I was a madrich at Habo, that was a big passion of mine. I spent a lot of time dedicated to running the youth movement and being a part of the community in that way.

I remember finishing up at Habo and going through a process of trying to figure out what my next move would be that would connect me to the community and give me a sense of purpose outside of studying. I fell into working at Mount Scopus, helping them with running school camps. I also spent some time in Israel, and I had this feeling that I couldn't give up on educational work because it was meaningful and I loved it. 

I ended up seizing the opportunity to work part-time at Scopus while still studying. Towards the end of my degree, I came to terms with what I always felt, which was that working as a solicitor wasn't going to be for me. Working at Scopus was meaningful, exciting, challenging, interesting, and offered a framework for me to experience Jewish life. I got to experience what most people are looking for when it comes to connection to the Jewish community.

There are lots of people in the community who will likely resonate with studying law, but never actually practicing it.

We used to joke amongst the Jewish faculty at Scopus about how many combined law degrees we had. I think together we could have opened a small firm.

You spent a year working as a parliamentary assistant at the Knesset in Israel. That experience wasn’t enough to lure you into the world of law and policy making?

No, it didn’t, but it definitely inspired me. I was studying on exchange in Jerusalem and became connected with a member of Knesset. I volunteered working as an assistant for them. It was very special to be in an environment where you are exposed to the arena where the Jewish future is being shaped. 

It inspired me to be someone who's going to look for an opportunity to play an active role in being a leader who takes responsibility for our community, rather than someone who's going to watch from the sidelines.

How connected do you feel to your Jewish identity? 

Being Jewish is who I am. It's a core part of my identity and a source of meaning and connection to community. I became a Jewish educator for a reason, because it was something I felt strongly about. It’s a big part of my life.

I feel that I was fortunate to have been born into a community, a tradition and a people with a rich culture, heritage, system of religious beliefs and amazing values. I think a lot of people search for meaning in life and look elsewhere, but we are really fortunate that we were born into a community that has the opportunity to look inwards to our own internal culture, teachings, values and ideas that offer a lot, both to us personally and for us as a community. We have a lot to offer the world as well.

It’s a shame that people sometimes tend to recognise culture in other people as being really exotic, interesting and beautiful, but don't view their own culture and tradition in the same way. People don’t realise or appreciate how cool their own Jewish background is. I’m not suggesting that we should be insular and not look outwards, but we need to appreciate how fortunate we are to be custodians of a rich culture and tradition that’s got a lot to offer the world.

You left Mount Scopus after almost a decade and started at FoodFilled – a youth-led, volunteer-based food rescue charity – at the start of this year. Why did you decide to move on? 

It was hard to step away, but I felt ready for a new challenge. I'd been at Scopus my whole life, I was a student there, it was where I felt at home. I was very comfortable, and I needed to do something that would push me out of my comfort zone in order to continue to learn and grow. The timing felt right, I was coming to the end of a significant chapter for our department and school and my work specifically. 

Schools are commonly places where people end up staying for quite a long time. I thought that if I didn't make a proactive decision to explore other opportunities, there wouldn't necessarily be a moment that just appeared as the perfect moment to make that change. So, I made that choice, despite being comfortable and still loving what I was doing.

I wanted to be involved in community leadership in some way, and I was interested in finding an organisation within the Jewish community – because as much as I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone, I also appreciate how nice it is to work in a setting where you can be your whole self and you don’t need to separate parts of your identity. So that was my thinking when I was looking for a new opportunity, which presented itself in FoodFilled. 

Tell us about your role at FoodFilled.

I'm the COO and currently acting CEO, because our former CEO has taken a sabbatical. I was brought in to take over her responsibilities. It's very new to me, but the cause resonated as a basic, universal cause that I wanted to be involved in. I'm learning a lot of new skills, and meeting lots of new people. It's fun.

The nature of my role is broad. I have a range of different responsibilities and managerial tasks. We are not a Jewish communal organisation, but our makeup is mostly Jewish in terms of our staff and our board, and the fact that we were created from within the Jewish community. We've since grown and expanded, and we now serve the broader community in Victoria, but we're still very closely connected to the Jewish community as well. 

What are the aims and objectives of FoodFilled?

FoodFilled wasn't created necessarily to serve the Jewish community, but it was created by two young Jews who were students at the time and were trying to do something good within the community. They realised how much food was being wasted by local food businesses – unsold, edible, surplus food that was being tossed into landfill. One thing led to another, and the organisation was formed.

FoodFilled has a dual and intersecting purpose of trying to combat food waste by helping businesses minimise their food wastage, while also combating food insecurity. Across Australia, there is an enormous excess of food, while at the same time, so many people experience food insecurity to varying degrees. We are a connector or an intermediary – we collect food from food businesses in Victoria, which we then immediately distribute to local charities that are serving the community.

We aim to support and empower existing charities; minimise environmental harm and waste; and feed people that don’t have access to food. Our operations are totally volunteer driven, which is quite unique. We engage over 250 volunteers each month.

Food insecurity is a bit of a taboo in Australia – we're a developed country with access to lots of food – so why is this a problem?

The Inquiry into Food Security in Victoria indicated that around one in three Victorian households experience food insecurity, which is measured from severe to mild. This situation is reflected across Australia too.

Mild food insecurity might mean that certain people in the household are skipping meals or going one day a week where they won't have a certain meal. They’re essentially cutting down to try and make ends meet. The severe end are people who are going without food and are hungry.

The experience of food insecurity is really diverse in Victoria, but it's definitely pervasive. There are people who may not have the financial capacity to access food from a supermarket – this might be temporarily or on an ongoing basis without an end in sight. It's very hard to paint a precise picture, but the stats are definitely alarming, and they shocked me.

We all potentially experience moments where we're surprised by the cost of food, whether it's takeaway items that we remember used to be cheaper or our supermarket bill, but we may not necessarily consider the impact of this on people who have either low or no income. We’re rescuing over 10,000 kilograms of food, which provides around 25,000 meals each month, with the support of over 130 local charities, from food pantries to services offering cooked meals.

I get asked a lot: when there are so many food rescue organisations that already do amazing work in this space, why does FoodFilled exist? The reality is that small food businesses in particular are often overlooked in the current system of food rescue and waste management in Australia. As food charities grow, it becomes easier for them to work with large food suppliers, and harder for them to work with smaller food businesses. We're localised, we're agile, and we're able to service communities on a local level, which is addressing this blind spot. 

Is this an issue that also affects the Jewish community?

Definitely. As with most social causes, the Jewish community is part of the broader Australian community and experiences the same basic challenges. There are many organisations within the Jewish community specifically that are dedicated to welfare, and food is part of that. We work closely with Jewish communal charities that provide food to people who need it. 

Food rescue organisations like FoodFilled are clearly one piece of the puzzle when it comes to addressing food wastage and insecurity from a business perspective. What are some of the other pieces to solving this problem?

There's definitely a lot that can be done at a policy level, which is something that has changed over the years. The culture has evolved and there's increased environmental consciousness. Minimising waste is something that businesses are especially more considerate of than they have been in the past. There's a lot that can be done to incentivise a minimisation of waste. There was recently introduced legislation in New South Wales to this effect, which will prevent the disposal of food organics to landfill, essentially forcing the reuse, recycling and repurposing of resources. 

The food businesses we work with recognise that we're helping them achieve something that is in their interests as well. It's not just about benevolence or an altruistic desire to support the community and those in need, they recognise the bigger picture. I think things are trending in the right direction, but there are still big logistical issues in Australia too.

How much of this problem starts at the beginning of the chain – at the farms and with the farmers?

The statistics on how much food is wasted at farms would be mind-blowing, but you never see that because it’s largely an invisible problem. How many people have actually been to a farm in Australia? 

The reasons for that waste are actually quite complicated on a range of levels. It’s not necessarily economically efficient, for example, for farmers to be building a waste management plan to get excess food to people that need it because of Australia’s geography and logistical challenges. The cost to pay for the labour to pick excess fruits, just to start with, would be significant because the quantities are just enormous. It’s a problem that I don't think anyone has really been able to crack yet, because it's so complicated.

What can the general public do to help?

We can all play a part in a number of ways. I reflect a lot on my own food waste, and I do think that households should be mindful of minimising their own wastage. 

There’s definitely an ongoing educational challenge we can be meeting. Do we actually know when food is no longer edible or safe to eat? What are the signs we need to look for? Are we fully across the difference between a ‘best before’ label and a ‘use by’ label? Are we just leaning on our own personal preferences when we choose to throw out and buy new food? 

People can also volunteer with FoodFilled, it’s a simple, convenient and great way to make an immediate impact!

Our Generation Change column always ends with the same question: what does social impact mean to you?

I think social impact is about real, positive, tangible, measurable outcomes that improve people's lives. 

It's important that we don't lose sight of the effects of what we're doing, and we don't lose sight of what we're trying to achieve. There are lots of community organisations and individuals working towards creating impact, and the challenge is to stay focused. We, as a community, do a great job of helping ourselves and others, but it can be hard to remain focused on our goals – short and long term.

There are lots of ways to achieve social impact, and I feel grateful that I've had the privilege to professionally work in roles that are directly geared towards achieving meaningful impact.