A new report estimates half of all Australians are anxious over how they'll be able to feed themselves and their families. This year's foodbank hunger report says that in the past 12 months, millions of Australians experienced food insecurity for the first time... A figure which will continue to rise.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 A year ago, Vanessa Newell never worried about buying food.
00:07 That changed when she was diagnosed with cancer and her partner became her carer.
00:12 I became very food insecure within a matter of weeks.
00:15 I had three part-time jobs, my partner was working.
00:20 I had some health problems, I was diagnosed with cancer and virtually overnight I didn't
00:25 have an income.
00:26 Vanessa isn't alone.
00:28 A new report from Food Charity Food Bank estimates that over the past year, 3.7 million households
00:35 didn't have enough food to maintain a healthy lifestyle, a 3% increase on last year.
00:42 The report also found that almost a quarter of households were severely food insecure,
00:47 meaning they were eating less, skipping meals or going hungry.
00:52 And almost half of all households felt anxious about whether they could consistently access
00:58 adequate food.
01:00 We now have 77% of food insecure households experiencing it for the very first time.
01:06 They are younger, they are mid to high income earners and they are people who've never been
01:12 facing these circumstances before.
01:15 Less than half of those experiencing food insecurity sought help from charities like
01:20 Food Bank.
01:21 In Vanessa's case, she knew her diet was affecting her health but didn't know what help was available.
01:26 My cancer treatment, it ravaged my body so it was really important for me to eat healthy
01:32 and I did find that quite difficult at times because it's been, fruit and veg have been
01:39 quite expensive from time to time.
01:41 The report estimates 94% of Australians have changed their grocery spending, with almost
01:46 half cutting back on fresh fruit, veg and meat.
01:50 When someone is making compromises on their diet and not getting the food that they need
01:56 to feed themselves and their family to lead a healthy and active life, that's the time
02:00 to contact Food Bank.
02:02 A growing problem with lasting consequences.
02:05 [BLANK_AUDIO]