In September UNICEF and The Sydney Morning Herald held the Bread for Good campaign in support of East Africans. The campaign asked Sydney’s top restaurants to give patrons the opportunity to donate $2 for bread served, typically given for free with meals.

“In Australia, we have bread as an ancillary to our meal and yet the cost of that actually constitutes a meal for these people,” Surry Hills’ Bird Cow Fish owner, Alex Herbert toldThe Sydney Morning Herald.

“It’s a bit of a wake-up call in terms of our concept of what a meal is.”

Oxfam Australia also called on restaurants to help tackle the devastating food crisis in the Horn of Africa by getting behind the international aid agency’s national fundraiser Shout the Horn on World Food Day in October.

Oxfam asked Australians to dine out with friends and ‘shout’ the cost of an extra meal on 16 October by making a donation at participating restaurants to Oxfam Australia’s East Africa appeal.

Oxfam Australia executive director, Andrew Hewett said Shout the Horn offered Australians a unique opportunity to dine at their favourite restaurants while helping a good cause.

Several high-profile figures from the food world lent their support, including 2009 MasterChef winner, Julie Goodwin.