Food shortage means thousands go hungry as data shows shift in needy

Charities are turning away more than ten thousand people seeking food parcels and free meals every month in Victoria – a third of the the hungry mouths being children – because of depleted food stocks, a national report shows.

Foodbank, Australia's largest food relief charity, released its End Hunger report on Wednesday, which revealed demand for food rose by 12 per cent in the past year. But 83 per cent of the charities it helps in Victoria said they had insufficient food to meet it.

Among people who were able to obtain food assistance, two-thirds did not receive all they required and remained hungry.

Foodbank, which rescues blemished fruit and vegetables, food in damaged packaging and products from discontinued lines, supplies food to hundreds of charities across the state. Nationally, Foodbank assists 473,000 people needing food assistance each month.

"The most disadvantaged in our community are not only experiencing financial hardship. The majority of those we assist also have the highest prevalence of obesity, heart disease and diabetes in the community," said Dave McNamara, chief executive of Foodbank Victoria. "This is a problem, that as a society, we can no longer afford to ignore."

Foodbank aims to end hunger in Australia by doubling its food supply from 26 million this year, to 50 million by 2020. "‘It's an achievable target,'' said Gerry Andersen, chief executive of Foodbank NSW.

The report, with results analysed by Deloitte-Access Economics, revealed the types of people requiring food relief shifted from the homeless and those with mental health issues, to low income and single parent families.

"The situations for many people are quite dire. There's housing affordability issues, but for those on government income support like Newstart, there's just been no movement in that allowance for years and years," said Major Paul Moulds from the Salvation Army. "They are falling further behind.''

Melody Pascoe, a welfare worker at the Salvation Army in Sydney, said a third of her clients now comprised of single parents shifted to the Newstart allowance under government changes who could barely cover basic living costs.

"We give them vouchers they can spend at our supermarket here, so they don't have to worry about food costs and focus on the other bills," she said, referring to the charity's in-house mini supermarket in Surry Hills, Sydney, stocked with goods such as $1 cereal boxes and $1 soup mix bags supplied by Foodbank.