A day in the life at Geraldton Foodbank, which is seeing 7 tonnes more food heading out its doors every month

Foodbank is on the cost of living frontline and sees the ripple effect it is causing in the community on a daily basis. With many people barely managing to pay the rent and bills and keep their car fuelled and food on the table, the number of households turning to charities for help is on the rise. Foodbank in Geraldton has seen the effects of this crisis first-hand in recent months. “Over the past four to five months, we have 50-70 more people coming through the door each week. That equates to about 7000 more kilos of food per month going out,” manager Jamie O’Brien explains of the insatiable demand. This is on top of the 38,000kg that this one centre alone distributes in a month. Seven thousand kilograms. That’s seven tonnes of extra food a month, bringing the total amount of outgoing food to almost 45,000 tonnes. To put that in context, that’s roughly the weight of an adult humpback whale or two of the heaviest ancient stones from Stonehenge. Every month. According to the Food Report of 2020, Foodbank is the biggest provider of vital food and groceries to food relief charities around Australia. Last year alone it sourced enough food and groceries to provide 210,000 meals a day to people in need. Foodbank distributes its food and groceries to more than 2400 charities nationally, the majority of which rank Foodbank as their organisation’s most important source of food. Foodbank also supplies 2500 school breakfast programs nationally. With nearly 25,000sqm or floor space, Foodbank Geraldton has aisles packed four levels high with a variety of food stuffs. This includes staples including pasta and flour, fruit and veg and milk to specially made up bags of snacks and sweet treats. Their dedicated freezer aisle has cheap cuts of meat and their own “freezer packs” with enough food for a big meal for a large family. Mr O’Brien explained at length how Foodbank worked on a day-to-day basis. “Every day we have local pickup from Queens IGA, Woolies Centro and Aldi. Main stock delivery from Perth arrives Thursday morning,” he said. The Webberton centre is manned by volunteers and paid staff who fill shelves, pack the fruit and veg, make special bundles, serve customers and go through the paperwork to get new people started using the service. Foodbank Geraldton also has a mobile van out every day servicing those people who find it difficult to get to them. Every morning the centre is also visited by local schools who run their breakfast program. Foodbank often has up to 27 schools through the Mid West coming through the doors each week. With a focus on education and healthy eating, Foodbank also runs cooking classes every three to four weeks. The help Foodbank provides is becoming more critical by the day to many Mid West locals, including Geraldton pensioner Jennifer Almone. She said it was sad to say that her small family had become reliant on regular Foodbank visits. “We used to get by, just on my pension, but this last year it was like I was choosing either to feed myself or my kids. “Foodbank has been a Godsend. It’s still a struggle but we are at least getting our three meals a day.” Local couple Bob Meddings and Anne Hill don’t know what they would do without Foodbank and the people who work there. “We have been coming since it moved here, and this last year we are coming at least three times a week,” they said. The centre has seen an uptake in all their types of foods, with Mr Meddings and Ms Hill “taking everything from potatoes to pasta”. The average basket of food, including dried goods, fresh vegetables, frozen meat and milk, will cost between $50-$60 at Foodbank. Compare this to major supermarkets where you are likely to pay upwards of $150-$160 for a similar basket. Some items work out much cheaper given that groceries are priced by weight rather than value. So Foodbank customers can get real value for money when buying lighter goods such as pasta and cereal. Foodbank is committed to helping all those in need. Their referral system is “kept simple”. “Financial insecurity leads to food insecurity — you need Foodbank,” Mr O’Brien said. Foodbank Geraldton is adamant that no one will be turned away, no matter how bad things might get. “If the need for us is there we find a way to meet the need,” Mr O’Brien said. “There’s a whole team of people in our Perth office who are constantly on the search for more food sources and more fundraising/donation avenues.”