Everybody Eats hosts second community meal event in CBD

Aucklanders gathered over the weekend to share a meal as charity restaurant Everybody Eats returned to the city for its second large-scale community dining event.

The initiative, which tackles food waste, food insecurity and social isolation, served hundreds of people using rescued food that would have otherwise been discarded.

Its restaurants work on a “pay what you can” basis, with the aim of making dining accessible for all.

Amy Tew, the general manager of Everybody Eats, says the event is more than just food. It is designed to bring people together in a welcoming and inclusive environment, where strangers connect over a shared table.

“Our hope is the takeaway would be from this event that people come, number one, to enjoy the food, but number two, they sit next to a stranger, and they start up a conversation," she said.

The event builds off the success of last year's dining event, which fed around 650 people.

Partnering with local organisations such as Auckland Live and Auckland City Council to activate the city centre, this year's event again focused on celebrating community while highlighting the scale of food waste in New Zealand.

According to Tew, around one-third of all food produced never gets eaten. Simultaneously, there are many families struggling to put meals on the table, some regularly going without.

"There are so many people who are short of food, and it’s not because there’s not enough food in the world, it’s because it’s not distributed equally," she said.

By rescuing surplus ingredients and transforming them into restaurant-quality meals, Everybody Eats aims to address both issues at once.

Volunteer chefs and kitchen teams prepare the food, which is then served in a dine-in setting to preserve dignity and create a full hospitality experience.

This model also relies on both diners who can pay and those who cannot. However, Tew says one of their biggest challenges is encouraging people to see the restaurant as a space for everyone.

“We hear people saying… ‘I don’t want to take away food from people who really need it.’,” she said. “It’s like, no, no, no, the whole model is based on people who can pay as well.”

Beyond the meals themselves, Tew hopes the event inspires small, everyday actions, whether that is reducing food waste at home, donating surplus food, or simply connecting with others.

“The message is things are better when we work together," she said.

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