Working to get vital food on SA tables
It maybe the state’s food bowl, but increasing numbers of locals are struggling to buy essential groceries in a region dealt several economic blows over the past few years.
A dedicated group of Riverland volunteers has joined forces with not-for-profit organisation Community Bridging Services (CBS) to provide meals to those in need in the region.
Kosmos Kitchen, which is celebrating its two-year anniversary this month, was established after Elsa Loulas noticed many people in the Renmark Paringa area were struggling with the high cost of living and finding it difficult to afford necessities such as food.
She said Peggy Miller, CBS manager at the Chaffey Community Centre at Renmark had also been thinking of ways to help provide food to those in financial crisis.
The pair soon gathered a group of volunteers to joining create the concept of Kosmos Kitchen, a new service providing people with access to frozen meals each weekday from 10am to 12pm and freshly prepared meals once a month from the community centre’s kitchen.
Loulas said when the gorup first started the service they would cook about 20 meals each month.
“Now we do anything from 120 to 150 meals each month,” Loulas said.
“We aim to cater for people who are less fortunate, whether they are homeless, or struggling at the moment or having financial difficulties and can’t put food on the table every day,” she said.
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Another vintage of historically low prices for wine grapes and at least three years of consecutive drought for dryland farmers before some rain finally arrived in autumn have all impacted on the region’s economy.
InDaily recently reported figures showing new Wine Australia data found the 2026 vintage was 17 per cent below last year’s total tonnes crushed, and there were 1440 hectares of vines less than the same time last year in South Australia. The Riverland recorded its smallest reported crush since 2010, down 16 per cent year-on-year to 339,195 tonnes.
Loulas said the demand for food was increasing and some items were becoming more expensive to purchase.
“You go shopping now and $50 doesn’t get you very far and a grocery bill that was $150 last year might be $250 this year,” she said.
The Kosmos Kitchen team consists of some experienced chefs and bakers who willingly donate their talents to provide people with some delicious hot meals.
Others are keen to just help with tasks like washing and peeling vegetables or cleaning some dishes.
The group reflects the multicultural nature of the Riverland and how these diverse cultures come together to help each other.
The 15 volunteers come from a variety of cultural backgrounds including Greek, Italian, German and Croation.
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Loulas said they enjoyed sharing their recipes and make a wide range of dishes ranging from chicken curries with rice, to spaghetti bolognaise, lasagna, and vegetable bakes.
“We also make apple or plum crumbles or use whatever fruit is available,” Loulas said.
“If we get an abundance of fruit, we will cut it up and freeze it, so we have it there ready to use.”
Kosmos Kitchen relies on Foodbank SA & NT, which donates a lot of the vegetables, fruit and staple items, and it also receives community donations of fresh produce that does not host fruit fly such as broccoli, zucchini, pumpkins, and melons.
Since its establishment, Kosmos Kitchen has received strong support from the Riverland community and local businesses.
The Renmark and Berri Lions Clubs have each donated $1000 each year to the volunteer kitchen.
“We have opened up an account at Koch’s Foodland Renmark, and the Lions Clubs can put their donated money into there,” Loulas said.
The Renmark Lion’s Club also recently obtained a grant to purchase a food mixer for the volunteers.
Warburton Butchers Renmark and Riverland Country Style Meats have also provided strong support to Kosmos Kitchen, and Harvey Norman recently donated an electric frying pan and a discounted rice cooker.
Local Chaffey MP Tim Whetstone has also supported the volunteers by partnering up with Betta Electrical in Berri to jointly donate a food processor, and he has also donated aprons with the name Kosmos Kitchen printed on them.
Loulas said the group enjoyed the time spent together preparing and planning meals.
“We decided to form a small committee, and we’ll sit down and we’ll do some planning, looking at what labels we need to print, what ingredients we have to buy, and what’s the next menu,” she said.
“We have made completely different connections to what we normally have, they are not our families or original groups, they are completely new connections.
“We have fun, we laugh, we carry on, we enjoy each other’s company, and we look forward to each session.”
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