WA charities forced to close food wait lists as demand outstrips supply, according to new OzHarvest report

Charities in Western Australia are facing a rapid increase in demand, but they don’t have enough food to meet that demand, according to new research from food supplier OzHarvest.

It found 63 per cent of local charities saw higher need, while 37 per cent of Western Australians were seeking food assistance for the first time as their daily expenses soared.

The frontline report is Australia’s most comprehensive to date and coincides with recent concerns about rising living costs and ongoing fuel supply problems.

OzHarvest WA manager Jennifer Keen said food was often the first thing people in financial difficulty sacrificed.

“We can see that the cost of living has a really negative impact on families, and often times food is the first staple consumed,” he said.

“Looking at these statistics provided helps us plan how we can work more closely with agencies who see rising demand and higher fuel prices making the cost of living worse.

“We must also be aware that this report was conducted before the fuel crisis emerged.”

OzHarvest collects quality surplus food from supermarkets and cafes and distributes it free of charge to local charities.

The State Government announced last week that it would allocate $1.5 million between OzHarvest, Food Bank and SecondBite, allowing the purchase of additional food to meet the needs of more people.

“Additional fuel costs are really putting additional stress on households… so this funding is really vital for us to keep our vans rolling,” Ms Keen said.

“We are grateful for (the State Government’s) support during the crisis, but what is really important is that we look at a longer-term solution to food insecurity.”

OzHarvest works closely with local charities to gather first-hand information and improve support services.

Ms Keen said the current increase in demand was outpacing food supply.

“We work with around 300 organizations and schools every week here in WA, so sending this preliminary report and survey results really helps us keep our finger on the pulse,” Ms Keen said.

“Unfortunately, it’s a perfect storm right now. We’re seeing rents go up, our electric bills remain relatively high, and people are having to make decisions: ‘Do we pay our energy bill or do we pay the rent? Do we buy food for the kids? Can we put gas in the car to take them to school?'”

Charities in WA are feeling the pressure of having too little spread, with many having to close waiting lists and reduce the amount of food they put in their baskets.

More than 200,000 people are reportedly turned away each month across all charities affiliated with OzHarvest, and more than a third of these charities need at least 50 percent more food.

ADRA community center in Cannington operates a soup kitchen and emergency food pantry accessible to Canning locals, supported by OzHarvest, SecondBite and Feed It Forward.

Center manager Shane Law said they had seen an almost 100 per cent increase in numbers in recent weeks.

“We also saw a pretty big supply shock during this time…we were already strapped for resources when this war started,” he said.

“It seemed like there was an inverse relationship between the number of people coming and the number of resources given to us. We are already struggling only for electricity, water and natural gas.”

ADRA receives support from the City of Canning but Mr Law said they often had to refer people seeking help due to lack of supplies due to financial difficulties.

“We have relationships with all the charities around the City of Canning that provide food security or assistance to people in need,” he said.

“If we don’t have that, we can direct people where to go… but sometimes they may not have the capacity to move from one charity to another.

“Cost-of-living pressures will continue to rise, so the outlook does not look promising.”

The Frank Konecny ​​community center in Parmelia has been providing food to those in need since COVID in collaboration with OzHarvest, but does not receive government support.

Center director Sussan King said demand had been the highest ever, with almost 6,000 people seeking help in March alone.

“We started offering food to get over the COVID hump and thought life would go back to normal, but it never did,” she said.

“We got about 39 percent more through the door in March.

“The difference between now and Covid-19 is that people were doing well money-wise then because the government stopped everyone’s bills…none of that is happening this time.”

The center is not officially recognized as emergency assistance and does not receive government funds to purchase food.

Ms King said it relied on donations from the community but that had slowed in the current financial crisis.

“The community has been really generous, but we’ve even noticed that it’s slowed down. Normally people would come in with a carton of long-life milk and things like that, but that’s slowed down right now.”

“OzHarvest is amazing, we connected with them early and it made a huge difference.”

FKCC offers a ‘supermarket’ experience for the community every Friday, with bread, fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as other essential items available for people to make their own baskets as needed.

Most of the food comes from OzHarvest, which collects it from supermarkets and cafes before it goes to landfill.

“We have people calling Monday to Thursday to book their time slots, but we only have as much space as we can guarantee. If we had more food it wouldn’t be a problem,” Ms King said.

“We don’t want money, we don’t want a health card. If you come in and say you need food and you’re willing to wait half an hour in line to get food, then you need it.”

OzHarvest expects the food situation to worsen in the near future but hopes the Federal Government will come to the table with a long-term national food security strategy.