Foodbank says the food industry is supporting the rising need for food relief in the wake of a series of natural disasters: Cyclone Lam, Cyclone Marcia and the South Australia bushfires.
Foodbank Australia CEO Jason Hincks, says its figures show major food companies including Unilever, Nestlé, Parmalat, Lion and SPC Ardmona have played a pivotal role in aiding Australians by donating items like cereal, milk, muesli bars, instant noodles, coffee and tea supplies.
Increasingly in demand in 2014 were fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, eggs, soup, pasta and noodles, and over the course of the year, Foodbank’s partners contributed more than 30 million kilos of food.
In total Foodbank says it provided 40 million meals or 110,000 meals a day in 2014, which was Australia's third-warmest year since national records began in 1910. December was its biggest month ever for rescue volumes at over two and a half million kilograms.
Hincks says changing weather patterns are increasing the severity of natural disasters such as cyclones, bushfires and floods, and with the help of the food industry, Foodbank is able to react quickly.
“Over the first three months of the year, we’ve responded wherever we’ve been needed and the food industry has been right there with us answering our call for additional supplies.”
Australia's agricultural sector also faces profound challenges from climate change over coming decades, according a new report, The Appetite for Change, by the University of Melbourne researchers.
The report looks at the impact of climate change in different regions of Australia and also lists how different types of produce, including seafood, dairy products, poultry, meat, grains and fruit and vegetables, will be affected by changing weather patterns.
