Ronni Kahn Author

Ronni Kahn is a South-African born Australian social entrepreneur who founded the food rescue charity OzHarvest. She is an advocate, lobbyist and activist well renowned for disrupting the culture of food waste in Australia. Working with lawyers and politicians, she had the laws changed to allow good food to be given away for free without liability to the donor Ronni leads a team of hundreds of staff and thousands of volunteers and has delivered over 130 million meals to vulnerable Australians, saving 180 tons of food a week from ending up in landfill. The OzHarvest model has been shared to establish similar programs in New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK under the patronage of HRH the Duchess of Cornwall. Ronni's quest to tackle a country's food waste problem makes her a leading spokesperson, appearing regularly in national media, and in an advisory capacity to the government. She is a keynote speaker all over the world, inspiring people towards taking sustainable action, and is supported in her mission through close collaborations with some of the world's finest chefs, including Jamie Oliver, Massimo Bottura, Neil Perry and Bill Granger. She has received numerous accolades recognising her achievements, most notably her appointment as Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), an honorary doctorate from Griffith University and Australian Local Hero of the Year award in 2010. In 2018 her journey in the fight against food waste became the subject of a feature film, Food Fighters, directed by Dan Goldberg. Beyond rescuing food, her work with OzHarvest delivers powerful sustainability education, curriculum-aligned programs in schools, as well as programs for vulnerable youth, transforming lives through hospitality training, increasing community connectedness, self-worth and confidence.