The Organisation Behind the Impact
At some point each year, over 4 million Australians are in crisis, dealing with the anguish and despair of not knowing where their next meal is coming from for themselves and their families.
It’s hard to believe this is happening in the “lucky country”. It’s a predicament largely hidden by stigma and shame, but the reality is we’re all likely to know someone who is affected. It’s not just people on the street, but people in our streets.
Imagine the stress of not being able to provide food for yourself or your family. That’s the reality for 18% of Australians this year. When it comes to Australian children, the picture is even more alarming. Today it’s more likely for a child to have experienced food insecurity than an adult, with 22% of children having experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months.
Foodbank restores hope to people who are struggling by rescuing and sourcing food and groceries from farmers, manufacturers and retailers and distributing them to front line charities around the country to provide to individuals and families in need.
They support children through school breakfast programs nationally, and play a key role in times of community emergencies and disasters, providing essential supplies to support the work of emergency services and first responders, as well as ongoing assistance to affected communities.
Foodbank not only plays a lead role in fighting hunger, but also a vitally important role in tackling Australia’s $20 billion food waste problem and helping the environment. Their food and grocery rescue operations last year saved 81 million kilograms of CO2 emissions.
Foodbank is the largest hunger relief organisation in Australia which, with the help of the food industry and the public, has the scale and capacity to address the country’s hunger crisis. In spite of their best efforts, only 36% of charities are currently meeting the full need of the people they assist because demand outstrips supply.
This is why, with your help, Foodbank strives every day to do more.
Key Challenges & Opportunities:
There is currently no cohesive federal government policy underpinning the goal of individual food security in Australia. Foodbank is seeking a long term, bi-partisan, whole-of-government strategy to underpin the efforts of the public, private and non-profit sectors in addressing the current food security crisis. The aim of this strategy is to meet the food relief needs of every food insecure person in Australia.
Foodbank also faces the challenge of a shortfall in food and groceries sourced through rescue channels. As organisations place increased focus on sustainable practices and minimising waste, the volume of goods donated to Foodbank decreases.
Foodbank celebrates and encourages this environmentally conscious shift, and resultantly they are seeking more proactive means of sourcing and manufacturing food to satisfy the demand from food relief agencies.
Micro Goals:
At a micro-level, Foodbank seeks to raise awareness of food insecurity in Australia and educate people on its prevalence in “the lucky country” - in the last 12 months, more than four million Australians have been in a situation where they have run out of food and have been unable to buy more. Of these, more than three in four (76%) are categorised as having very low food security.
Macro Goals:
At a macro-level, we seek an Australia without hunger and aim to meet the food relief needs of every food insecure person in Australia.