Foodbank Victoria tasked to supply food to students at schools
Food charity, Foodbank Victoria, will use locally sourced foods as part of the School Breakfast Program from the beginning of the 2017 school year.
Run in partnership with the Victorian state government, the School Breakfast Club provides free breakfasts to up to 25, 000 children in 500 Victorian schools.
Farmers from the Murray Goulburn region are expected to supply 400, 000 litres of milk annually whilst SPC Ardmona in Shepparton will give 80 tonnes of baked beans.
Victorian Minister for Education, James Merlino, said the decision to source local will not only help children but Victorian dairy farmers struggling to sell their milk.
“One in seven Victorian children arrive at school on an empty stomach, affecting their ability to concentrate and learn,” Merlino said.
“We’re tackling disadvantage through School Breakfast Clubs by making sure every student has the opportunity to reach their potential – and by using Victorian dairy and food suppliers we can also help boost jobs and industry,” he stated.
Foodbank Australia’s Foodfight now feeds millions of meals to hungry Australians
At the same time Foodbank Victoria is focusing on sourcing local food, Foodbank Australia has reported a record13 million servings of food were donated as part of its 2016 ‘Food Fight’ campaign.
Every August Foodbank Australia partners with Australian food companies who donate every time a customer purchases a specially marked product.
In 2016, the donations equalled 13 million serves of food for Australians in need, almost double what was donated in 2015.
The number of serves achieved in this year’s campaign includes enough:
- Helga’s bread and Flora to make over 1.2 million sandwiches
- Weet-Bix for a million breakfasts
- Nescafé Blend 43 for 615,000 cups of coffee
- SPC Baked Beans for half a million meals
Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey, said the support from the organisation’s industry partners and the public was overwhelming.
“It’s reassuring to see how much Australians want to help when they realise the enormity of the issue in our own backyard. Although largely out of sight, hunger is a growing blight on our community, with over two million Australians seeking food relief from charities each year – a third of whom are children,” she said.
