Over eight million litres of milk has been supplied by the dairy industry to help vulnerable Australians in the last six years.
The figure has been released by Foodbank, the organisation partnering with the industry to fight hunger as part of The Foodbank Milk Program.
Dairy industry players offering support have included Murray Goulburn, Parmalat, Fonterra, and Lion Dairy & Drinks.
“Our charity partners regularly inform us that people who are struggling to put food on the table often have to sacrifice dairy products,” Foodbank Australia CEO Brianna Casey said.
“This makes regular milk donations from the dairy industry vitally important in providing a consistent source of calcium to Australians in need.”
This financial year, the collaboration produced one million litres of fresh milk for the program.
On top of this, dairy processors also regularly donate other products from their ranges such as yoghurt and cheese.
To ensure the supply has a wide reach, each partner is responsible for donating fresh milk in specific states and territories.
Parmalat provides fresh milk in QLD and the NT, Murray Goulburn in NSW/ACT, Fonterra in Victoria, and Lion Dairy & Drinks in WA, SA and Tasmania
“Our annual Foodbank Hunger Report tells us that rural and regional communities are 11 per cent more likely to be food insecure than their metro counterparts” Casey said.
“In fact, more than a third of the food and groceries distributed through Foodbank’s network of more than 2600 charities goes to country Australia.
In other news for Foodbank, the organisation will launch a campaign this Saturday to donate one million extra food items to needy Australians.
The Shop & Share campaign will see 15 Australian food brands donate an extra one million food items.
By purchasing a product from supporting partners at Woolworths in July, consumers will trigger a food donation to Foodbank, enabling it to distribute extra food.
This year’s supporters are Ardmona, Chicken Tonight, Continental, Devondale, Helga’s, John West, McCain, Mount Franklin, Old El Paso, Primo, Sanitarium, SPC, SunRice, Woolworths and Vetta.
Woolworths is also the exclusive retail partner for the campaign.
