A new report from Foodbank Australia has revealed 3.6 million Australians have experienced uncertainty around where their next meal is coming from in the last 12 months.

The Foodbank Hunger Report 2017 released by Australia’s largest food relief organisation, reports that 48 per cent of those struggling to feed themselves and their families are employed, while 27 per cent are children.

“The report exposes how increasing numbers of people are falling into food insecurity simply due to the rising cost of life’s basics,” according to Foodbank Australia’s Chief Executive Officer Brianna Casey.

Financial pressures have led to two in five food insecure Australians not paying bills in order to have enough money to buy food.

Other reasons for food insecurity include high cost of living, job loss, illness and food cost.

“There’s kale shakes and turmeric lattes – but food insecurity is the food trend we should all be following,” Casey said.

Hungry Australians are reaching out to the 2,600 Foodbank charities nationally, with 172,000 meals provided daily.

A 10 per cent surge in people seeking food relief has led to 65,000 people being turned away from charities every month due to a food shortage.

Foodbank releases own juice

To raise awareness on the issue of food insecurity in Australia, Foodbank have created a green juice, called ‘Dose of Reality’.

The juice uses hidden ink on its bottle to reveal facts about food insecurity as it is consumed.

There are no current plans to sell ‘Dose of Reality’ commercially, however social media influencers, including Katie Williams and Dr Tim Robards have received the juice to help promote Foodbank online.

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