Anyone for a free lunch?
Julia Irwin
08Jul08
SO you thought there was no such thing as a free lunch? Well, think again.
Even if you're not in dire financial straits there are meals to be had gratis.
Northcote resident John Finlayson goes to Loophole community centre at 834A High St, Thornbury, on Sunday nights to help cook and eat the free vegan feast.
"It's a really friendly place where I've met people from different age groups and backgrounds," Mr Finlayson said.
"The food is all donated so this forces you to be creative because you never really know what you've got to work with."
Nothing is wasted, with leftover fruit and vegetables put on the footpath for anyone to take.
The capsicum stuffed with herbs and rice are delicious and the apple crumble is sensational.
The Maya Living Free Healing Centre at 11 Rossmoyne St, Thornbury (phone 9480 1111), offers free weekday lunches.
The fare is more basic, being sausages, chops and salad, but lip-smacking too.
There's a women's day on Wednesday and men's on Friday.
Maya secretary Ashlee Luttrell said the centre was an Aboriginal-run place of healing, which welcomed Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to enjoy the community lunches.
Many of Darebin's churches also offer free meals, including Northern Community Church of Christ, 81 High St, Preston (phone 9484 4788).
There's a free lunch on Wednesdays which may include hot chicken casserole, savoury muffins and fruit salad.
Preston resident Maxine Cavenett said she and her son Clayton, 15 months, regularly ate at the church because the meals were "absolutely beautiful and you'd never meet nicer people."
"The food is always healthy and the menu changes all the time," she said.
"When you're a single parent like I am, you don't have a lot of money and it saves me about $30 a week going there to eat."
For people with low incomes, the Darebin Community Information and Support Centre, 287 High St, Preston (phone 9495 1022) offers food parcels and food vouchers (vouchers are for Darebin residents with health care cards but anyone can pick up a food parcel).
And many art galleries along High St offer free wine and snacks at openings.
