A not-for-profit business is working to address economic inequality amongst Australia's migrant and refugee community through food.
Launched in Melbourne in 2016, Free to Feed aims to celebrate Australia's diverse cultural culinary landscape while giving new migrants, refugees and asylum seekers access to employment and a sense of belonging in Australia.
It recently launched a catering branch that employs and develops cooks from Iraq, Iran, Syria and Palestine, with the menu focusing on middle eastern cuisine - ranging from baba ghanoush and muhammara dips to saffron-poached pears and rose baklava.
CEO and Freed to Feed co-founder Loretta Bolotin was inspired by the refugees she worked with over the years and said they informed the business's mission.
"When people are journeying towards us, they are imagining Australia to be their new home. They want to settle here, they want to participate, they want to find jobs and start families or re-connect with families,” she told SBS News.
“Unfortunately the reality is that when one arrives in Australia seeking asylum it is a difficult process.”
“There is a period of detention and then even once the person is living in the community it's really difficult to navigate completely new systems, to look for work and to find ways to make friends.”
Loretta Bolotin, co-founder of Free to Feed Source: Supplied
'New culture, new country, new place'
Research shows about 83 to 86 per cent of Australians are proud of Australia's multicultural makeup and diverse history, but many new migrants still feel isolated and face serious economic integration problems with the unemployment rate amongst refugees four times higher.
Shahnaz Albokhalifeh fled Iran for safety reasons and while she was glad to be granted asylum in Australia, making the transition was a challenge.
"When I first arrived in Australia it was very difficult for me because I didn't know any English and this is a new culture, new country, new place, no home, no language, no job. It was very difficult for me”, she said.
Shahnaz Albokhalifeh fled her homeland of Iran. Source: Free to Feed
In the last seven months, Ms Albokhalifeh was employed by Free to Feed as a cooking teacher, a job that allows her to pass on her culture to others in the same way it was passed down to her.
“When I got married I was 18 years old and I didn't even know how to fry an egg. After that my mother-in-law taught me how to cook and every day she taught me,” she said.
“Now I have been cooking for about 27 years and I am so happy because I like cooking, my job, and I like especially working with these lovely people.”
'Food as a catalyst for conversation'
The unique ability of food to bring people from different cultures together is what informed Ms Bolotin’s decision to start Free to Feed, as having grown up in a migrant community her earliest memories are of sitting around eating with friends and family.
"I've had that thread of being passionate about food as a catalyst for conversation and through my work experience I found that a lot of refugees and people seeking asylum also bring that food culture.”
“One of the women in our program describes her hands as her 'certificate'. She has been a mother and cooking for her family for the last 30 years but food is something that she knows how to do and it is something that she can do here and do well in Australia," she said.
Since Free to Feed opened in Melbourne it has provided over 13,000 hours of paid training, run over 1,000 events and distributed more than $350,000 in employment wages.
My friends and I frequent Main Street often for El Jannah’s charcoal chicken. Source: Getty Images
Head Chef Mischa Tropp is in charge of training Free to Feed employees, many of who are women who fled war and begin the program lacking in confidence.
"When I started in June I was working with this woman from Syria and she could communicate but she still had low level English, she didn't have a lot of confidence and was quite quiet,” he said.
“In over three months of working with her, I've discovered that actually she's an amazing cook and I've got to learn a lot from her.”
“Then in the last month, I've transitioned her to cooking classes, which for someone who wasn't very confident to have her standing up in front of a group of people and teaching them, is such a big win."
Despite being the teacher and in charge of organising classes, Mr Tropp believes he learns as much from those taking part as they do from him.
"I'm constantly learning about food and technique, about their culture, I'm learning about people. It is very humbling," he said.
Ms Bolotin hopes the additional branch will encourage members of the wider community to be involved in supporting migrants, refugees and asylum seekers and celebrating Australia’s multicultural identity.
"Catering and events is a very vibrant space and we believe that there is a lot of opportunity for local members of the community and the business community to make really simple ethical decisions, to purchase catering from Free to Feed and to help to create a social impact and provide an opportunity to someone," she said.
