Foodbank hits bittersweet milestone of 600 million meals for hungry Australians

28 February 2019 – The year was 1992: Paul Keating was Australia’s Prime Minister, Boys II Men’s End of the Road was playing incessantly on the radio, summer Olympics were being celebrated in Barcelona, and Foodbank first started sourcing food for distribution to charities with one purpose – to feed hungry Australians.

Fast forward to February 2019 and Foodbank has just surpassed 600 million meals for vulnerable Australians.

To put this into context, in 1992 Foodbank provided almost 200,000 meals for the entire year. Now in 2019, Foodbank provides the same number in a single day, providing food relief to more than 710,000 people a month who are in crisis, dealing with the anguish and despair of not knowing where the next meal is coming from for themselves and their families.

Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey, today visited Parramatta Mission, one of the 2,600 charity agencies Foodbank provides relief to, helping serve lunch to just some in the local community affected by food insecurity.

“We are so fortunate to have a national network of charities like Parramatta Mission, to help us get essential food and groceries to some of the most vulnerable in our communities.

“This is a milestone we never wanted to hit. Whilst I am incredibly proud of the efforts of the entire Foodbank family, our charity network, our food and grocery donors and our partners right across the country in helping us provide the equivalent of 600 million meals, this is a bittersweet moment. It is evidence of the scale of the hunger problem we have here in Australia, and the growing need for food relief.

Foodbank works with the entire food and grocery supply chain, rescuing ‘perfectly imperfect’ fresh fruit and vegetables; sourcing – and even manufacturing – the everyday essentials every family should have available in their pantries year round; and helping fill the tummies of children who would otherwise go to school hungry.

“With 4 million Australians suffering from food poverty at some point in the last 12 months, and charities reporting increased demand for food relief across a range of demographics, something has to give. We need urgent action on what has become a systemic problem in Australia, and in the lead-up to the election, all sides of politics can expect to hear more from Foodbank on this issue.” Said Ms Casey.

Foodbank brings the heart of Christmas to the red centre

Foodbank Australia, 20 December 2018 –The burden of feeding loved ones on Christmas day will be eased for vulnerable families in Alice Springs. Foodbank, together with one of its national partners, Virgin Cargo, transported Christmas hampers from Darwin to Alice Springs to help feed the hungry through the Salvation Army Alice Springs.

Delivering these hampers was Foodbank’s inaugural Youth Ambassador, 10-year-old Alice Ramsay, who boarded a Virgin Australia flight in Sydney with her mum and travelled to Alice Springs to bring joy to those doing it tough this Christmas.

Alice has been donating food and other necessities to homeless people around Sydney since she was six years old. She has funded her food drives with stalls selling sweets and homemade lipsticks, bake sales at after school care and via her mum’s Facebook page. Passionate to help on a bigger scale, she has teamed up with Foodbank as the first Youth Ambassador for the food relief organisation and is thrilled to be heading to the red centre to do what she loves doing – feeding the hungry.

“It really makes me sad to see people without food and warm clothes. I really enjoy holding my stalls to raise money for charity, I have been raising money at my after school care the last few weeks to help pay for the hampers and I’m super excited to be in Alice Springs and helping families in the Northern Territory who need our help,” Alice said.

Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey, witnessed first-hand Alice’s determination to raise funds for people in need and was blown away by her resourcefulness in engaging her local community, particularly through after school care. She knew instantly that Alice was someone special that Foodbank would be humbled to have on board to help fight hunger.

“I don’t know many 10-year-olds who would give up playing with friends to bake and sell cakes to raise money for those in need. Not only does Alice raise money, she also researches what she needs to buy, purchases it all, with the help of Mum, and ropes in friends to help deliver what can sometimes be two trolley loads filled with bags of food and essentials for vulnerable people in our community.”

Virgin Australia has been supporting Foodbank for more than five years and jumped at the chance to actively get involved with Foodbank’s campaign to ‘Bring the heart of Australia together this Christmas’. Aimed at its corporate partners, Foodbank’s goal is to raise much needed funds to get more food to Aussies doing it tough and to highlight the social isolation many Australians experience as a result of food insecurity, especially during the festive season.

Virgin Australia Cargo General Manager, Glen Moloney, said that Virgin Australia was pleased to help Foodbank provide an important service to the heart of Australia and communities in remote areas.

“We are always looking for opportunities to give back to the community. At Virgin Australia Cargo, we understand that our services can make a big difference to remote communities who may not have access to goods and services and we are pleased to help with such worthwhile causes,” he said.

The hampers, packed by the generous team and volunteers at Foodbank in Darwin, were filled with essential food items to help vulnerable families celebrate this festive season. Foodbank in the Northern Territory works extremely hard with limited resources throughout the year. They currently provide food relief to over 10,000 people each month, but demand is significantly outstripping supply. In fact, Foodbank needs 87% more food in the NT to meet the existing demand for food relief there.

“Whilst Christmas in Australia generally involves bringing the family together to share a meal, that meal can be hard to come by for many,” Ms Casey said. “We are so pleased that Foodbank is able to add some Christmas cheer by helping to provide food relief to some of the most vulnerable in our community”.

Meal matchmaker revolutionises food relief

5 December 2018 – More meals left over at the end of the day in quick serve restaurants, takeaways and cafes will soon be able to go to people in need thanks to a new collaboration between Foodbank, Australia’s largest food relief organisation, and an innovative new app called Y Waste.

It is estimated that at least 40 percent of food purchased by restaurants, cafes and other foodservice businesses around Australia ends up in the bin[1]. Launched in January this year, Y Waste enables the public to use their smart phones to find and buy discounted food that hasn’t been sold at the end of the trading day. The app already has over 500 registered outlets nationally – including Sumo Salad, Sushi Hub, Roll’d and Muffin Break – with more coming on board every day.

Soon after going live, many food merchants indicated that, as well as selling the meals at reduced prices, they wanted to offer some to people who need them in their communities for free. Y Waste approached Foodbank to help create a way for local charities to give people seeking food relief the means to access free meals via the app.

A trial in an inner Sydney suburb has proved that Y Waste is a great matchmaker for merchants who don’t want to throw good food away and people who might otherwise go hungry.

Speaking on the new partnership, Foodbank Australia CEO Brianna Casey, said: “Accessing the short-life prepared food generated by cafes and quick serve restaurants has always been logistically challenging for the food rescue sector. Y Waste removes the barriers and enables the meals to go straight into the hands of people who need them.”

“Not only is the food fresh and high quality but there is plenty of variety giving food insecure people choice and dignity in obtaining the help they need to feed themselves and their families,” Brianna said.

The way in which people access meals via Y Waste is a totally new approach to the provision of food relief. With the help of a local Foodbank-registered charity, those in need sign up to the Y Waste app using a special code. They can then select their choice of the meals being offered on the app free of charge. They collect the meal from the food outlet at a certain time by showing their voucher on their smart phone just as any other user of Y Waste does.

According to the founder of Y Waste, Ian Price, the interest from food merchants keen to do the right thing has been overwhelming. “Ninety percent of the food outlets we’ve spoken to want to donate meals in their communities and the indication is that over half of all the meals being offered through Y Waste will end up with people who can’t afford to buy them.”

With over 80,000 food outlets in Australia there is potential for tens of thousands of meals to go to people experiencing food poverty each day. Y Waste will be progressively rolling out availability of the ‘Foodbank Meals’ around Australia during 2019.

About Y Waste

With its focus on food retail, Y Waste’s purpose is to reduce both food insecurity and the negative environmental and economic impacts of food waste. Its unique app and community-conscientious partners manages to do both.

Y Waste targets short-life food offered for donation from food retailers which food charities are unable to collect for various reasons. By linking food retailers with end recipients in the local community, its new food donation platform connects donators directly with end-recipients. Donating food is now no longer restricted by quantity, nature or geographical location.

[1] RMIT Watch My Waste https://watchmywaste.com.au/research/

Partnership helps provide 51 million meals to Aussies in need

 

December 2018. Orange: Despite some of the toughest drought conditions on record, Manildra Group and MSM Milling continue to help Foodbank to provide 51 million meals to Australians in need through flour, sugar and oil donations as part of Foodbank’s vital collaborative supply program.

Since 2004, Manildra Group has provided flour to manufacture pasta with Rinoldi as part of the country’s first program of its kind. From 2009, MSM Milling has provided canola oil donations to the production of Leggo’s Napoletana Pasta Sauce in a joint initiative with Simplot and its ingredient suppliers. Sugar for the pasta sauce is also donated by Manildra, through Sunshine Sugar.

Foodbank Australia General Manager National Supply Chain, Michael Davidson, said the organisation is incredibly grateful for the ongoing support and partnership with both Manildra Group and MSM Milling.

“With more than 40% of Foodbank’s total food relief volume helping regional and remote communities and the tough season at hand, the involvement of these two leading regionally based manufacturing companies is appreciated and needed more than ever to help communities and vulnerable Australians, including here in their own backyard, in Orange and regional NSW.

“Manildra Group and MSM Milling source the wheat and canola from the local area, handle the milling and consolidation locally and help people in the local area with the finished products from the program distributed via our network of front line charities,” he said.

In 2017 the Manildra Group collectively donated 22,400 meals to Foodbank from product donations across its range, and more than 5 million serves from its involvement in the two collaborative supply programs, providing a significant social return on investment of more than $8.2 million last year alone.

In addition to its ongoing donations, Manildra Group has assisted by providing flour and sugar donations for Foodbank’s drought relief hampers which are currently being distributed throughout regional NSW.

Manildra Group’s Manildra Flour Mill Production Manager, Tony Fitzpatrick said Manildra Group is proud to continue donating locally grown and produced flour and sugar to this vital program.

“With our national partnership with Foodbank now in its 14th year, the Honan family and Manildra Group team are committed to providing key staple foods to vulnerable Australians in need. Being part of an innovative program like this really demonstrates what can be achieved when suppliers and food manufacturers come together for the collective benefits of our communities,” said Mr Brunner.

MSM Milling’s Site Manager James Karbowiak, says MSM Milling’s involvement in the Foodbank Collaborative Supply Program is a perfect fit for the company to directly assist people needing hunger relief.

“Every year MSM Milling proudly donates thousands of litres of canola oil to this valuable program to ensure such a versatile pantry staple is made available to those who most need it. We’re a family business and the directors and the team are all proud and humbled to donate oil to the program and see the difference it makes to everyday Australians. On occasions I volunteer my personal time to assist at Foodcare Orange and it’s wonderful to see our products going some way to alleviate food insecurity in our local communities.” he said.

Hunger in the country is a big problem

 

Sunday 14 October: Today the iconic Big Banana on Australia’s east coast will be shrouded in black in a bold act aimed at drawing attention to our country’s big hunger problem.

Foodbank is taking this extraordinary step to mark the release of its annual Foodbank Hunger Report which reveals that more and more everyday Australians, particularly in rural and regional areas, are going hungry.

“Our country loves its big food icons – the Big Pineapple, the Big Prawn, the Big Lobster, but we have a big food problem that needs to be addressed – hunger in the country,” Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey, said today.  “Our Foodbank Hunger Report 2018 confirms that 1.5 million Australians in regional and remote areas have experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months, which makes country dwellers a third (33%) more likely to be hungry than their city counterparts. This is even before the full effects of the current drought are factored in.”

The report exposes that, overall, 4 million Australians (18% of the population) have experienced some form of food insecurity in the past 12 months with 76% of these regularly eating less than they need because they lack the money or resources to obtain food.

Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey, says despite Foodbank providing food for 710,000 Australians every month, it is struggling to meet the demand.

“Half of all our charity agencies report an increase in the number of people seeking much needed food assistance, and only 36% of charities say they are meeting the full needs of the people they assist.

“Food insecurity is a growing problem which is affecting everyday Australians both in the cities and in the bush. We are doing our very best to address this problem, but we need support from our government and our community to help these vulnerable Aussies in need.”

The public can help Foodbank tackle this big problem by joining the growing movement on social media using the hashtags #BigProblem and #ZeroHunger, donating at www.foodbank.org.au or asking their local Federal Member of Parliament what they are doing to address food insecurity in Australia.

New hamper program helping keep hope alive for those escaping homelessness

14 June 2018

People entering crisis accommodation will be supported by a new partnership between Foodbank Victoria and Launch Housing, one of Melbourne’s leading homelessness organisations.

With rates of homelessness and waiting lists for public housing at an all-time high, the new Essential Pantry Program will help relieve pressure on people transitioning into 600 of Launch Housing’s crisis accommodation sites.

“It’s the small things that can really make a difference. Moving into crisis accommodation and being supplied with an essential hamper makes you feel like somebody cares. It’s these things that help keep hope alive,” said Emma, a former recipient of Launch Housing services.

New tenants will receive hampers filled with personal hygiene items, generously donated by Foodbank partner Asaleo Care, and staple food items sourced by Foodbank. Each hamper is valued at $245.

“It’s clear that the housing crisis is hitting people hard. With the exponential increase in housing prices and the decrease in affordable and appropriate accommodation, many families and individuals are being forced into homelessness and crisis housing,” said Foodbank Victoria CEO Dave McNamara.

Last month Launch Housing released its Australian Homelessness Monitor, highlighting the scope of the housing problem. Between 2011 and 2016, homelessness increased by 14 per cent and rough sleeping by 20 per cent in Australia. In Victoria, almost 25,000 people were homeless on Census night in 2016.

Last week, a parliamentary inquiry revealed 82,000 people, including 25,000 children, are on the waiting list for public housing in Victoria.

“The Essential Pantry program is a targeted approach to help alleviate some of the worry and financial pressure for people transitioning into temporary accommodation – whether due to being priced out of the rental market or fleeing a dangerous or unstable home life,” Mr McNamara said.

“Over the next 12 months we hope to prove the benefits of the program so it can be rolled out more widely.”

Heather Holst, Acting CEO of Launch Housing, welcomed the partnership.

“Thanks to Foodbank and Asaleo Care, these hampers of food and personal products will go a long way in welcoming our clients into their new homes in the coming year,” she said.

“Sadly, lower income households are at a greater risk of experiencing poverty as housing prices and the cost of living — particularly food — continues to rise. This partnership means that new tenants in all our transitional and long-term housing, will have a solid starting point in their next chapter.”

To kick off the program, volunteers from Asaleo Care will pack the hygiene hampers, including sanitary items, nappies, toilet paper and other necessities that are costly yet vital, at the Foodbank Victoria warehouse on June 14.

“Asaleo Care makes many of the essential products people use every day in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Our popular products like Sorbent, Libra, Handee Ultra and Deeko can be found in every household. Most of us don’t think twice about being able to buy them,” said Sid Takla, Interim CEO, Asaleo Care.

“But not everyone. For some, access to food, clothing and shelter is a major struggle – anything more is out of reach. That’s why we’ve joined with Launch Housing through Foodbank to help make it easier for hygiene, health and wellbeing to be part of everyday life for everyone. Taking care is at the heart of what we do. We’re very proud to be a leading supporter of this initiative.”

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Kimberley Nichols, Foodbank Victoria: 03 9362 8309
Alexa Viani, Foodbank Victoria: 03 9362 8333