Our pandemic hunger crisis

AUSTRALIA’S 1.2 million hungry children are the shocking Covid-led wake-up call of Foodbank’s Hunger Report 2021, with Foodbank Australia chief executive Brianna Casey calling the past 18 months “the most challenging time on record”.

“The massive concern for us is not only those one in six Australian adults who haven’t had enough to eat, but on top of that a further 1.2 million children have gone hungry through that same period,” Ms Casey said.

“The effect on wellbeing, future prospects (and their) ability to absorb information in class? We have to look at all aspects of mental health and wellbeing for Australian children and we know that having access to enough food and the right food is critically important to a child’s ability to thrive.”

Ms Casey welcomed children’s long-awaited return to the classroom so school breakfast programs could resume nationwide. “Starting the day well with a full tummy is (critical) to a child’s ability to engage in class, to participate in learning,” she said.

Despite Australia producing “enough food in this country to feed ourselves three times over”, Foodbank distributed more food in the past 12 months than in any time in its history, to more than a million people each month, Ms Casey said.

“Whether there’s a natural disaster or a pandemic, an increasing number of Australians are not able to access the food and groceries they need or the quality of food they need to be able to sustain their family,” she said.

“If you can’t fill your child’s lunch box, if you can’t give them breakfast, if you are an older Australian who is skipping eating for an entire day a week … please (contact) us.”

Released Wednesday, the annual Hunger Report challenges key assumptions about who needs emergency food relief, finding that 64 per cent of Australians experiencing food insecurity are in paid employment.

“If we combine levels of income, levels of unemployment and underemployment with a real challenge around access to affordable housing, we have got the perfect storm,” Ms Casey said. “It’s going to take a long time for people to get back on their feet.”

Indeed, adding to Australia’s Covid-created mental health crisis, director of Deakin University’s Food and Mood Centre, Professor Felice Jacka said a poor quality diet increased risk for mental health problems “right from the start of life”.

“The true cost of our poor food environment is even larger than thus far calculated,” she said.

Please reach out to support services if you need help feeding yourself or your family: foodbank.org.au, askizzy.org.au