Food emergency charity providers are calling the ongoing cost-of-living crisis the “cost-of-surviving crisis”, as more and more Australians are not only skipping meals, but eating from bins to cope with severe financial distress. Source: SBS News.
A report by the Salvation Army released yesterday interviewed 4,400 Australians who turned to the charity for emergency relief support, finding that 91 per cent of them had skipped meals in the past 12 months, with one third doing so daily.
It also found 67 per cent of respondents watered down food or drinks to make them last longer, and nearly one in five respondents said they had eaten from bins. Around 60 per cent of respondents said they had eaten expired food.
Major Warren Elliot from the Salvation Army said food insecurity was an issue across Australia.
“And it’s not just families that are on pensions or benefits, it’s working families as well, they are experiencing new levels of stress and difficulties,” he said.
Major Elliot said the war in the Middle East had exacerbated the years-long cost-of-living crisis, as 90 per cent of respondents said they had previously been unable to refuel their cars or pay for public transport.
While some parent respondents told the Salvation Army that they would go without food to feed their children, 35 per cent said their children had still gone to school without a meal in the past 12 months.
The big demand for food relief has dramatically increased the workloads of charities, and sometimes they have to turn people away.
A recent report by OzHarvest, which interviewed over 870 charities, found that over 74,000 people were turned away from food support every month, as charities struggle to meet the high demand.
FULL STORY
Eating from bins, watered down food: Desperate ways Aussies are trying to make ends meet (SBS News)
