Backyard harvests feed the community

In backyards across Adelaide, Fruit Share volunteers are rescuing an abundance of unwanted or excess fruit from trees with permission from the property owners to save food from going to waste and help feed the community. 

“This food would literally just rot on the ground,” said Sharon McGann from the Onkaparinga Food Security Collaborative. “Residents may have inherited a tree where they live, be time poor, or no longer have the dexterity to climb and harvest fruit from their tree. Instead, thanks to these volunteers, the fruit is delivered to community centres for people in Onkaparinga to eat.” 

How the harvest works

Each harvest begins with a briefing from a volunteer leader like Mary Crawford, who explains which fruit to collect and how to sort it. Fruit is inspected for imperfections — the bruised or spoiled pieces are composted, while the good fruit is weighed, boxed, and labelled before being delivered to community centres and food relief organisations. 
 
Typically, two to five volunteers join a harvest leader. With more than 150 people on the volunteer list — and a core group of 20 to 30 harvesting regularly — Fruit Share Adelaide has become a strong community movement. 

“All of the harvested fruit is donated to charity,” explains Mary. “Volunteers can take a little home, but the focus is on ensuring fresh, healthy food reaches people who need it.” 

Learning through experience 

Among the volunteers are students, families, and retirees. Luke, an agriculture student, says the harvests give him invaluable hands-on experience. Home-schooling mum Thea often brings her children along. 

“There are so many benefits for children in this experience,” she says. “They learn about food waste, life skills, and being part of something that isn’t just for you. It’s about helping others too. I especially love when they taste the fruit and say, ‘This is the best food I’ve ever had,’ because they feel the pride when they’ve worked hard for it.” 
 
Harvest days often include cleaning up fallen branches, with Thea’s son vigorously stomping them down into the council green waste bin as though he were treading grapes. And when the work is done, Mary surprises the group with a lemon syrup cake to share, before deliveries are made to centres like Hackham West Community Centre. 

Real fruit versus perfect fruit 

Part of the project is about changing how people think about fruit. “Society is so used to perfect-looking fruit,” Sharon explains. “But when you cut open a lemon that looks marked on the outside, the inside is often perfect. You can use half, or all of it — you don’t have to throw the whole fruit away. And the flavour of backyard fruit is just beautiful!” 

A community-wide effort 

Food security is when people have reliable access to sufficient, affordable, nutritious food to support a healthy life. 
 
The Onkaparinga Food Security Collaborative supports dozens of local emergency relief organisations through projects like Fruit Share. Together they focus on three key areas: providing food when people need it, running education workshops such as preserving and healthy cooking, and connecting local organisations so they can expand their impact in the Onkaparinga region. 

“Food is a great connector,” Sharon says. “This project reduces waste, provides fresh food, and strengthens community connections.”

How to get involved 

Fruit Share Adelaide welcomes everyone — whether you want to help with harvesting, distributing fruit, or running events. Most harvests take around an hour and are held in a friendly, relaxed environment. 

If you have a tree with excess fruit, you can also register it online so volunteers can ensure it doesn’t go to waste. Occasional low-cost workshops also help people learn how to take better care of fruit trees. 

ENVIRONMENT – Resourceful, resilient living 

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Community Vision 2034, the council is interviewing locals who are making Onkaparinga the kind of place they’d like to live now and over the next decade. Onkaparinga Food Security Collaborative and Fruit Share Adelaide are bringing life to the Community Vision goal of ”supporting individuals and businesses to reduce waste to landfill.” Download the Community Vision at the council's website.