December 2023
Moorabbin Airport celebrates seven years of partnership with food charity FareShare, helping to provide nearly half a million plus meals for the community per year via its onsite FareShare kitchen garden.
Moorabbin Airport Corporation (MAC) first partnered with FareShare in 2016, designing and donating (via the Goodman Foundation) a one-acre plot on its site for the charity to grow crops.
With the program now producing over 100 tonnes of vegetables annually, these vegetables go into almost half a million nutritious meals that are distributed across Victoria every year by frontline agencies including soup vans, homeless shelters and women’s refuges. FareShare also partners with First Nations organisations - identifying and filling nutrition gaps in remote communities through tailor-made meals.
MAC, via the Goodman Foundation, initially funded the operating costs of the airport kitchen garden, and since then the partnership has grown from strength to strength, now including funding for farm-hand specialists, and the expansion of the Meals for the Mob program, as well as engaging 150 volunteers who oversee the day-to-day running of the program’s two sites at Moorabbin and Clarinda.
Critical to the partnership’s success is MAC and FareShare’s shared progressive approach to their Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPs). From 2024, FareShare’s Meals for the Mob program, which aims to improve life outcomes for Indigenous Australians, will expand into Victoria, with a significant proportion of the crops grown at the two farm sites supported by MAC going into meals for these communities.
“Based around the core pillars of relationships, respect and opportunities, MAC and FareShare are jointly committed to providing tangible and substantive benefits for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities that seek to increase their social and economic equity, as we support First Nations self-determination,” says MAC CEO Paul Ferguson.
Sustainability is additionally at the top of both organisations' agendas. Moorabbin Airport is seeking to minimise its environmental impact by taking action - targeting net zero by 2050, with measures ranging from waste management, to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving water. Through joining forces, both MAC and FareShare are working together towards creating a more sustainable world for future generations.
With remote First Nations communities particularly vulnerable to the increasing frequency of climate change-induced extreme weather events, FareShare’s next initiative is to create a shelf stable
product - nutritious meals that you either add water to or that you simply heat and eat. As part of the evolving partnership, food grown at the two sites supported by MAC in Melbourne could go into these meals.
“The FareShare garden is a key part of our airport community and contributes to our aim of making a tangible difference to society. Continuing our partnership with FareShare will provide new opportunities for people in need to receive adequate nutrition,” added Ferguson.
Please note that all funding for FareShare is provided through the Goodman Foundation.
For more information and regular updates regarding Moorabbin Airport, please visit moorabbinairport.com.au Further commentary and interviews with Moorabbin Airport’s CEO, Paul Ferguson, can be arranged upon request.
All media enquiries should be directed to Communications Collective.
Natalie James
Account Director
[email protected]
About Moorabbin Airport
Moorabbin Airport is Australia’s leading general aviation flight training airport located in the south-east of Melbourne. Spanning 294 hectares, the Airport is Australia’s second busiest airbase and is home to a range of general aviation activities including flying training, flight charter, aviation maintenance, as well as general and recreation aviation operations. Supporting the viability of aviation activities, the Airport also has a thriving non-aviation commercial centre, including Kingston Central Plaza and a Direct Factory Outlet (DFO), as well as an array of retailer and hospitality providers which provide employment for many local residents in the City of Kingston. Located on the north and south-eastern perimeter of the precinct, Chifley Business Park is home to leading industrial facilities and commercial offices for business customers.
Committed to safely building a sustainable future for aviation, business and local community, Moorabbin Airport was awarded ‘Metro Airport of the Year’ in 2022 by the Australian Airports Association (AAA) and is recognised as a State Significant site, a major employer and a centre for community activity in one of the fastest growing regions in Victoria.
About Moorabbin Airport Corporation and Goodman Group
Privately owned and funded, Moorabbin Airport Corporation Ltd (MAC) purchased a long-term lease on the Moorabbin Airport site from the Commonwealth Government in 1998. MAC’s role is to maintain and develop the Airport infrastructure and the provision of a safe airport for all users. MAC is wholly owned by Goodman Group, the largest industrial property group listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: GMG) and one of the largest listed specialist investment managers of industrial property and business space globally.
About The Goodman Foundation
The Goodman Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Goodman Group. The Foundation focusses on building resilient, inclusive and sustainable urban communities, providing people with the opportunity to reach their full potential. We invest in organisations to enable transformation and scale so that we get to the heart of an issue to make long-term sustainable change.