Ronni Kahn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ronni Kahn
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| רוני קאהן | |
Kahn at the 2012 Australia Day ceremony in Wagga Wagga
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| Born |
Ronni Hellmann
1952 |
| Nationality | South Africa Israel Australia |
| Occupation | Social entrepreneur |
| Known for | Founder of OzHarvest |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 2 |
Ronni Kahn (born in 1952) is an Australian social entrepreneur who was born in South Africa. A social entrepreneur is someone who starts a business to help solve social problems. Kahn is famous for starting OzHarvest, a charity that rescues food.
Kahn moved to Australia from Israel in 1998. For her amazing work, she was given the Local Hero Award in 2010 as part of the Australian of the Year awards. In 2019, she was also made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), which is a very high honor.
Her organization, OzHarvest, has delivered over 250 million meals to people in need across Australia. In 2019, Kahn also started a similar organization called SA Harvest in her home country of South Africa.
Contents
Early Life and School
Ronni Kahn was born Ronni Hellmann in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her parents were Jewish, and she went to a private Jewish school. Growing up, she was inspired by her neighbors, Jules and Selma Browde, who were activists working for positive change.
In 1970, she won a scholarship to study in Israel. She later earned a degree in Fine Arts and English from the University of Haifa. For a time, she lived on a kibbutz, which is a type of community where people live and work together.
Career and OzHarvest
After moving to Australia in 1998, Kahn started a business managing events.
How She Got Inspired
During a trip back to South Africa, Kahn was inspired by a friend who had helped bring electricity to the large township of Soweto. She said this was the moment she knew she wanted to do something important to help others.
Working in the events industry, she saw huge amounts of good food being thrown away. This shocked her, and she decided to do something about food waste.
Founding OzHarvest
In 2004, Ronni Kahn started OzHarvest. It is a charity that collects extra food from restaurants, supermarkets, and other businesses that would otherwise be thrown out. OzHarvest then gives this food to charities that help people in need all over Australia.
At first, there were laws that made it hard for businesses to donate food. Kahn worked hard to change these laws. In 2005, New South Wales became the first state to change its laws, making it easier and safer for companies to donate food. Other states soon followed.
Kahn also started the NEST program, which stands for Nutrition, Education & Sustenance Training. This program teaches people how to eat healthy and cook nutritious meals.
Working to Solve a Global Problem
Kahn knows that food waste is a problem all over the world. For many years, OzHarvest has worked with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) on a campaign called "Think.Eat.Save."
In 2014, she attended a major climate change conference in Lima, Peru. She spoke about how food waste creates dangerous greenhouse gases that harm the environment. Wasting food also means wasting all the resources, like water and energy, used to grow it.
Special Projects
In 2018, Kahn teamed up with the famous Italian chef Massimo Bottura. Together, they planned to open a special kind of restaurant in Sydney called a refettorio. These restaurants use rescued food to cook delicious meals for people in need, creating a welcoming community space. The OzHarvest Refettorio opened on Crown Street, Sydney.
A documentary movie about Kahn's work, called Food Fighter, was released in 2018. The film follows her efforts to reduce food waste in Australia and other countries like the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Thailand.
Helping in South Africa
Since 2019, Kahn has helped run SA Harvest, the sister organization to OzHarvest in South Africa. By 2023, SA Harvest had already delivered over 50 million meals to people there.
Recent Highlights
In 2022, OzHarvest celebrated serving its 50 millionth meal in Australia. That same year, Kahn was invited to speak at the National Press Club of Australia, a great honor for leaders in the country.
In October 2024, Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom visited the OzHarvest restaurant in Sydney. Kahn greeted her and gave her a special gift. A month later, Marie Claire magazine nominated Kahn for its "Icon of the Year" award, alongside famous Australians like Nicole Kidman and Emma McKeon.
Other Activities
Kahn lived in Israel for 18 years and supports the New Israel Fund, an organization that works on social justice issues. In February 2024, she took part in a public discussion about the challenges facing the region.
Personal Life
Kahn married her first husband, Des Kahn, in Israel in 1972. They had two sons, Nadav and Ido. The couple later divorced in 1999. In 2005, she married Irving Wallach.
In 2023, Kahn was visiting family in Israel during the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel. She spoke out against the violence, saying that such acts could never be justified.
In 2020, Kahn published her life story in a book called A Repurposed Life.
Awards and Recognition
Ronni Kahn has received many awards for her work in helping people and creating positive change.
- 2010: Australia's Local Hero, Australian of the Year Awards
- 2010: Enriched List, American Express
- 2011: InStyle Woman of Style Award
- 2012: Veuve Clicquot Award for Business Woman
- 2012: Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year
- 2017: BOSS magazine Top 21 True Leaders
- 2017: Gourmet Traveller Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality
- 2017: Honorary Doctorate from Griffith University
- 2018: The Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence
- 2019: Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)
See also
- List of Australian Local Hero Award recipients
- Waste management in Australia
