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JACQUI PAYNE is Foodbank’s National Program Manager for the agricultural sector and feels plenty of pressure to ensure the organisation can help the more than four million Aussies each year dealing with the anguish and despair that comes from not being able to afford food on a regular basis.
“Food insecurity is affecting everyday Australian households and people within our own communities, including single parent households, children, students, the underemployed and retirees,” Ms Payne said.
“In order to help the 710,000 Australians seeking food assistance every month, Foodbank is exceptionally fortunate and thankful to have committed and passionate program partners such as Fletcher International Exports on board and involved in our vital programs.
“In fact, Fletcher International Exports is a founding partner in the Foodbank Sausage program and has just confirmed their ongoing support for a fourth year in a row, so we are very excited and very grateful for their partnership and genuine commitment to want to help and be involved,” she said.
Foodbank’s sausage program is one of the organisation’s vital collaborative supply food programs and involves working with partners at each point in the food supply chain to get ingredients, packaging, manufacturing and transport either donated or subsidised to ensure Foodbank has a consistent and sustainable supply of key staple items such as pasta, cereal and importantly protein.
Fletcher International Exports and MDH Pty Ltd continue to be valued trim donors, which helps provide more than 220,000 sausages each per year.
Primo Foods are Foodbank’s sausage-manufacturing partner and Scott’s Refrigerated Freightways are the delivery transport provider, getting product out to the statebased Foodbank warehouses.
“Something many people probably don’t realise is that 40 per cent of Foodbank’s total volume of food and groceries is distributed into regional areas and, in fact, our 2018 Foodbank Hunger Report found alarmingly that regional and remote Australians are 33 per cent more likely to have experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months than those living in cities,” Ms Payne said.
“Despite this, our regional partners and primary producers from across the country are some of our most generous partners, and we would like to say a huge ‘thank you’,” she continued.
“Our programs are a real team effort and we are very appreciative of Roger, Melissa and the whole team at Fletcher International Exports for their ongoing support and passion to be involved in this vital sausage program each year, and to help those in our community who for one reason or another need our help,” she said. CEO Melissa Fletcher (third from right) has confirmed Fletcher International Exports will support Foodbank for a fourth year. She is pictured at the Dubbo site with some of her own team and representatives from Foodbank.