In its most successful campaign against food insecurity ever, Australia’s largest hunger relief organisation Foodbank has engaged the public and its partners to generate a record-breaking 13 million servings of food for Australians in need. Spanning the month of August, this marks the non-profit’s second annual Food Fight drive, which not only surpassed but almost doubled 2015’s record seven million servings.
The 2016 campaign was aimed at raising awareness of Australia’s hidden hunger crisis, with one in six Australians experiencing food insecurity in the last 12 months. Fronted by a giant purple lunchbox, which made a pit stop at almost every capital city, Foodbank invited the public to snap, hash tag and upload a photo of it on their social media channels. For every #JoinFoodFight used throughout August, a meal was donated to a person in need.
In addition, Foodbank also put hunger front and centre with grocery shoppers, with its food partners pledging a food donation for every one of their participating products purchased. Available at Woolworths stores, these included iconic local brands SPC, Ardmona, Helga’s, Vetta, Devondale, Primo, Sanitarium, NESCAFé, Flora, Continental and Mount Franklin.
Foodbank Australia CEO Brianna Casey said the support from the public and their partners was overwhelming.
“It’s always incredible to see how much Australians want to help once they realise the enormity of the issue in their own backyards. Hunger really is a hidden crisis in Australia and there is certainly growing demand for food assistance, with over two million Australians seeking food relief from a charity or community group – a third of which are children,” she said.
The lunchbox concept was designed specifically to drive meaningful conversations around the glaring extent to which Aussie kids are affected by food insecurity. The campaign also serves to reduce the number of people who are turned away empty handed as demand currently outstrips supply.
“There is currently a 29 per cent shortfall in the amount of food needed to ensure no Australians go hungry, so this is definitely a positive step forward for us as a nation in alleviating food insecurity. We cannot thank the public and our partners enough for their support, but the fight isn’t over and we hope that everyone will continue rallying to chip away at this gap,” Ms Casey added.
The food donations generated during the course of Food Fight will go towards helping to feed more than 500,000 Australians, who turn to Foodbank for hunger relief each month.