Lenny and the Ants

Teach Kids to Fight Food Waste with Lenny and the Ants

Australia's leading food rescue charity, OzHarvest, is excited to announce the launch of a delightful and warm-hearted picture book designed to enliven children of all ages to discover a whole new way to think about food. Written by actor and singer songwriter Jessica Chapnik Kahn, and illustrated by artist Matthew Martin, the book marks OzHarvest's commitment to inspire young audiences about the simple ways we can re-approach food waste for a sustainable future.

Lenny and the Ants follows the journey of a hungry and temperamental little Kangaroo who cannot find anything good to eat no matter how hard he looks. It's lucky the resourceful harvester ants are so clever. They come to the rescue, showing Lenny new ways with old food. Together the new friends learn the joy of re-inventing and sharing food. There are even some recipes to try!

For over 14 years, OzHarvest has been collecting leftover food from all over the country, this year delivering their 100 millionth meal. The charity collects over 100 tonnes of quality excess food per week from supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. This food gets delivered to over 1300 charitable organisations servicing vulnerable Australians. OzHarvest chefs transform some of the collected surplus food into delicious meals - which are also distributed - saving good food from landfill.

In Australia, it is estimated that $20 billion a year is spent on wasted food and 5 million tonnes of it becomes landfill. OzHarvest plans to eliminate half the amount of food wasted in Australia by 2030. This book is a step in making that goal happen by engaging children and their families on the fun ways we can choose to be resourceful together.

"Lenny and the Ants helps children understand the precious nature of food in a way that is joyous and fun. Whether a child or an adult reads this book, I believe the message resonates with everyone – wasting food makes no sense. It also reinforces the fact that there is a way to live in harmony with what we have, with awareness and resourcefulness. Food is about sharing and caring and love. Lenny and the Ants is all about that" says Ronni Kahn, CEO and founder of OzHarvest.

Lenny and the Ants is available to buy from the OzHarvest website. Proceeds from the sale of each book will allow OzHarvest to deliver 80 meals to vulnerable Australians.

Lenny and the Ants
OzHarvest
Author: Jessica Chapnik Kahn
Illustrator: Matthew Martin
RRP: $40.00