'From the founder of OzHarvest, an ebullient, generous memoir with an exhilarating message.' ANNABEL CRABB
'Brimming with energy, altruism and refreshing candour' QUENTIN BRYCE
'The inspiring story of a woman with a big heart who dared to make a difference. This is a must-read book. I couldn't put it down.' ITA BUTTROSE
'Ronni Kahn is a force of nature. She has taught so many of us about the importance of embracing community and compassion through offering and sharing our food to those most vulnerable in our society.' KYLIE KWONG
'You don't get used to living permanently behind the eight ball - no matter how long you've done it, it doesn't get easier. There's a constant sense of shame that eats away at you, making you feel that you're just not good enough. Some people are so poor that they can't even afford to feel shame. Ronni Kahn, through her work with OzHarvest, does the very thing that offers hope to those in the poverty trap: restore dignity and remove shame. This is her story.' JIMMY BARNES
Life throws us mysterious ingredients. If we are brave enough to put the recipe aside and experiment, it's right there that things get interesting.
As the owner of a successful events company, throwing away huge volumes of leftover food at the end of the day came with the territory. But when Ronni Kahn hit midlife, she found herself no longer able to turn a blind eye to her food waste problem. Hand delivering the untouched food to homeless shelters around Sydney became her renegade solution. Little did she know that fixing her small problem at work would lead her to unlock a hidden purpose at the very core of her inner life.
Now founder and CEO of the food rescue organisation OzHarvest, Ronni leads hundreds of staff and thousands of volunteers with the goal to nourish Australia. She serves in an advisory capacity to government and is an instrumental leader in changing federal laws to improve social justice and environmental policies.
A Repurposed Life is the story of how Ronni found her voice, her heart and her deepest calling. From her early years growing up under the brutal system of apartheid South Africa, to a socialist commune in Israel, Ronni finally settled in Australia to discover a profound new way of living. Shared with the humour, warmth and energy that have made her an internationally renowned keynote speaker, this heartfelt exploration of the choices that define us will speak to anyone seeking a more passionate expression of being alive.
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.
