Yahoo Finance Food banks struggle to keep pace as cost of living drives demand
Food banks are struggling to keep up with the increase in demand as the cost of living continues to bite.
Amid soaring interest rates, skyrocketing rents and surging grocery bills, more Aussies are being forced to turn to food banks to feed their families, but the charities are struggling to meet the demand.
The People’s Pantry, run by South Eastern Community Connect (SECC), said there had been a dramatic increase in demand for food relief, while customer numbers at a Perth charity are up 80 per cent in just two years as cost-of-living pressures continue to take their toll.
“We struggled to meet demand during Covid but now we’re struggling to meet demand even more because of the rising cost of living and the number of clients has just gone up and up and up,” Alison Leader from SECC told Yahoo Finance.
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“There are a lot more people accessing food relief from us every week, as opposed to occasionally, which indicates that their bills are regularly beyond what they can cope with. Food is just a small part of the pressure but if you can take some of the pressure off the food, you can take some of the pressure off the rent, and all the other bills that people are faced with.”
In the middle of lockdown in 2021, Leader said The People’s Pantry — which provides free pre-packed boxes of grocery items — was probably getting about 70 customers a week. But that number has now doubled.
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The call for help
Mother of three Anastacia is just one of The People's Pantry's customers who came to rely on the service when her husband suddenly died of a heart attack in 2022.
With three young daughters, aged from three to 13, Anastacia was suddenly put under immense financial strain.
"Thankfully, SECC was there to help Anastacia and her family through this difficult time," the People's Pantry said online. "And with community support, there will be food in the pantry whenever Anastacia and others like her need it."
The ongoing challenge now is securing enough food to give out because, while the charity receives donations from OzHarvest, leftover stock from Baker's Delight and the occasional grant, it costs about $1,000 to feed all of those who come to The People's Pantry.
“It’s basically coming off our bottom line as a charity and we're finding it hard to sustain,” Leader explained.
“We're desperately in need of donations and we're calling for anyone who can help. We absolutely rely on the kindness of strangers and we need support to continue to provide the needs of people who are struggling to pay the bills.”
Across the country, food banks — many of which require members to prove they have a Centrelink concession card or aged care, disability or carer pension — are battling to survive. The Happy Pantry in Perth recently announced it was not able to take on any new customers.
“The cost-of-living crisis has seen the need for food relief soar,” the organisation wrote on its website. “We are now helping 80 per cent more people than we did just two years ago.”
Each week, the charity helps 720 families, plus six local schools and other charities in the community but, under the current pressure, it’s been forced to make some changes including the introduction of a $10 handling fee for each visit.
Greater financial stress than ever before
With the cost-of-living crisis hitting certain groups particularly hard - such as single-parent families, low-income earners, and those on welfare, JobSeeker or disability support payments - economist associate professor Ben Phillips from the Australia National University said: “We do see that financial stress rates are up, along with more serious forms of financial stress.
“People are struggling to put food on the table and struggling to pay basic bills so, when that's the case, it's not surprising that people turn to charities because what else have they got?” Phillips told Yahoo Finance.
And while the government has also made available some assistance, Phillips said it was too little, too late.
“They have made some small increases to some of the welfare payments, which has helped some people and helped insure them against cost-of-living increases. But for some families, that probably won't be enough," he said.
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