Food Security
11:38 |
| Figure 1: The Food Security Continuum[1] |
Food security is a right for all
people.[2]
What is food security?
Isn’t this what every child needs, every person has
the right to? A safe home, secure food?
Food security does not exist for at least 5% of
Australia’s population:
o
unemployed people
o
single parent households
o
low-income earners
o
rentals households
o
young people
o Indigenous
o culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD)
o socially isolated people [3]
o
those who misuse alcohol and tobacco
o
disabled, unwell or frail
Why is food insecurity part of the
life of so many in Australia?
o o fresh, healthy food too expensive
o o lack of mobility
o o living in a remote location
o o it’s just too hard
o o inaccessible due to poor health
o o lack of knowing about a balanced
diet of nourishing food
The 3 essentials of food security[4]
1)
Food access - acquire and consume a nutritious diet
o o buy and take food home
o o store, prepare, and cook at home
o o have understanding and skills to make suitable choices
o o wherewithal to shop for and prepare food
2)
Food availability - the supply of food in a community can affect
the food security of o o o individuals, households or an entire population:
o o location of food supplies
o o availability of food
o o price, quality and variety of available food [5]
3)
Food use: the appropriate use of food based on knowledge of
basic nutrition and care.
3 types of food security
o o secure
o o insecure but without hunger - stress or unpredictable access to
food, or regular eating of non-nutritious food
o o insecure with extreme hunger - meals are frequently missed or
inadequate
If Hilary Clinton has asked, “could (we) be doing more to help those who
are hungry or in need of shelter? [6]
maybe, you and I need to take action with:
Like our Facebook page!
[1]
https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/food-insecurity-australia-what-it-who-experiences-it
[2] United Nations World Food Summit
in 1996 - United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization, 1996
[3] Strategic Inter-Governmental
Nutrition Alliance of the National Public Health Partnership [SIGNAL NPHP],
2001
[4] World Health Organization, 2011
[5] Nolan, Rickard-Bell, Mohsin,
& Williams, 2006
[6] The Australian Jewish News, October 7, 2016
8 comments
Thanks Anni for explaining how food insecurity arises in a developed, first world country like Australia. I think many people are not aware that this is a genuine issue in Australia. I remember how shocked I was years ago to hear from my friend, a primary school teacher, about the kids at her school who had no lunch day after day. Sometimes it was a financial issue for the family, other times it was because all the adults in the house had left for work early and the children were too young to prepare their own food (if indeed there was food in the house to prepare). Teachers see this first hand every day, and many of them develop a roster to make sandwiches for these kids so they have something in their belly to get them through the day.
ReplyDeleteDoes Foodshare have different strategies to ensure the 3 essentials of food security are met? For example, the needs of someone in a remote community that simply can't access food regularly are different to those of someone in the inner city who is not aware of what constitutes nutritious food.
Melissa I shocked too when I came to Australia and saw homeless people.
DeleteI thought it is not an developed country so I did not expect to see that....
It is real story in my country, some students can not have a meals all the day.
Just imagine that..........
When they came to school in breakfast break they collect the left sandwiches in bag to feed their family
Foodshare's role is to partner with and financially support the organisations on the front line - those that actually meet with those who have food needs. The understanding I've got from these organisations, like, for example, nourish, is that the meals they provide include ingredients that do meet nourishment needs for a balanced, nutritious diet.
DeleteBack in 2006 I was doing a social work placement at an inner city primary school where 95% of students were from migrant families who'd been in Melbourne for less than 5 years. Many of these families lived in nearby public housing flats. Children had no breakfast, so a Monday to Friday breakfast club had been set up and supervised by volunteers. Children came to the breakfast club, and went to school after that.
There was also a big need for parents to learn about nutrition and a balanced diet. One of my tasks was to write about nutrition in the school's weekly newsletter, and also to talk with parents about fresh fruit and vegetables being a part of every meal.
So, an ongoing challenge for ongoing generations.
I agree Khadijah - it is shocking to come across this in Australia. It sounds like this is also an issue in Saudi Arabia, and no doubt, the world over.
ReplyDeleteWhat I was wondering about FoodShare is whether they will partner with other organisations to ensure people have the skills they need to make nutritious choice for themselves and their families - as Anni says in her article, this is one type of food insecurity.
I was shocked to read the story in the media this week about a 14 year old Perth boy who almost went blind. The cause was severe Vitamin A deficiency caused by a long-term diet consisting only of chicken nuggets, chips, white bread and Coke. Apparently he has followed this diet since he was about 5 years old. I am flabbergasted that his parents did not understand that this diet could not possibly meet his nutritional needs and did not seek help earlier. While we don't know the all the circumstances of this particular case, I'm sure its not the only case where kids are not getting their nutritional needs met but have enough food/calories - just not the right kind. So they are malnourished, with all the problems that go with that, but not underweight.
Hi Melissa,
DeleteFood security is a complex objective that we have chosen and it involves many facets as you highlight. Foodshare and our partner organisations are primarily involved in distributing nutritious meals to the disadvantaged and by doing this we also drive home the necessity of a balanced and healthy diet.
As a young organisation, our first priority is to ensure nobody is turned away hungry and everybody in need has access to a nutritious meal to live a healthy and active life, especially our growing children. This can be achieved if as a community we pull together.
Once this is largely achieved, we will widen our focus to the education and training of people in need so that they can have the ability to be self-sufficient and prepare healthy, nutritious and affordable meals for themselves and their families. This is a much more ambitious goal as this problem penetrates society at all socio-economic levels. Unfortunately, the example you highlight in Perth is all too common and it’s not necessarily confined to the disadvantaged sectors of our society, some of Australia’s wealthiest people and their children are also in poor health.
Foodshare has a short, mid and long term vision, all of which are ambitious to say the least and we will not achieve these goals alone, however we will contribute to the overall solution in a meaningful and practical way along with our partner organisations and the community working together.
Thank you for your support Melissa.
Hey Melissa, this is a good example of the first kind of food insecurity, where not hunger, but nourishment is the problem. In extreme cases, Department of Human Services, and at times, Child Protection, become involved. This type of food insecurity is not as obvious initially, and is possibly more prevalent than we are aware of, simply because the child is not hungry. As children in Australia mostly have lunch as well as one or two snacks at school, it's not difficult for teachers to observe the nutritional value of the food children bring from home or order from the canteen.
ReplyDeleteIt's not unusual for this to be an issue at schools. Needs vary depending on locality and the socio economics of the suburb - inner city, outer city, regional - as well as population demographics. Education remains an essential factor. This is often addressed at a local, family level by schools. Specialist organisations working in food relief in their own locality are more aware of local specific needs, and are therefore in a better position to work with their own constituencies.
For example, secondbite.org states "SecondBite exists to provide access to fresh, nutritious food for people in need across Australia. We do this by rescuing and redistributing surplus fresh food, building community capacity in food skills and nutrition and advocating for an end to food insecurity."
Yes, in Australia, as well as every country in the world, it's a big, long term, need.
We ALL need to contribute. Hence, the value of Food share.
Cheers, Janet
Thanks Janet and Colin for your response and assuring me that Foodshare intends to work with its partners to address this issue as part of its long-term goal. I agree that the first priority is feeding the hungry. And then ensuring that people are getting their nutritional needs met. Working in partnership with other organisations sounds like a great plan for working toward this goal.
Deleteinteresting knowledge to lead people know and understand about food
ReplyDelete