The food need in Canberra is dire, with many unable to afford groceries — and yet one-third of all food produced in Australia (the equivalent of one in five bags of groceries) ends up as waste, because we buy too much and do not use what we purchase.

Bridging that gap is food relief organisation OzHarvest Canberra, whose three bright yellow trucks collect unused food and deliver it to 64 charities across the ACT working with the most vulnerable.

“Our focus is helping people with what they need today, so it’s one less worry that they have,” engagement and culture lead Christine Scott said. “It’s making sure the food is available now, and it’s making sure that the food that is there is not wasted.”

Ms Scott joined the charity at the end of the last year — ideal work for a ‘feeder’ like her, someone who shows love through food.

“There’s no better place than to work for an organisation that truly lives and breathes that — bringing together connection with community, connection of food with people, having an uplift in their life.”

Canberra has the highest rate in the country of people accessing food support for the first time: 37 per cent. But that need is often hidden by Canberra’s wealth. Indeed, the ACT is worse than other jurisdictions because it is so highly privileged.

“When I started working with OzHarvest,” Ms Scott said, “a number of my peers were surprised that there was a need in Canberra from the community to access support, because in their sphere of influence, they have all they need, and it seemed unlikely that there were those in the community that need it.

“But I can tell you, from those that we work with, it is everywhere. It’s in every school, in every office block, it’s in every street…

“The demand is coming from those who live next door to us — our neighbours and our friends. It’s likely to be people that we know. It’s likely to be people with mortgages and jobs.”

Cost of living is the biggest contributor to food insecurity, Ms Scott explained. The cost of food in the capital has increased by 21 per cent over the last five years, according to ACTCOSS’s recent Cost of Living Report. Mortgage repayments, rents, and the price of pharmaceuticals have also gone up.

“One extra increase in a payment makes it difficult for them to meet all of the demands; they make choices — and, unfortunately, food is one of those sacrifices.”

Many of those in need are families and single parents. Others are dual-income families. Some workers travel from Canberra to Queanbeyan on the weekend just to use food pantries.

“While they’re working and gathering income, that’s not going far enough to support them in getting the full package they need,” Ms Scott said.

But every day, starting at 7am, the organisation’s trucks begin their runs to collect food from donors, stop it from going to landfill, and deliver it to organisations working with the most vulnerable: “A continuous ripple of benefit,” Ms Scott said.

Those donors include supermarkets like Woolworths, ALDI, and Harris Farm Markets and niche suppliers like Bega Milk. Other organisations run food drives: the National Convention Centre cooked and packaged frozen soup as part of a winter campaign, while ADFA cadets filled a truck with the largest collection of pantry goods they had ever collected: 1,200 kg, or 2,400 meals.

The charity collects 10,000 kilograms per week, and distributed 1.48 million meals last year. The acquisition of OzHarvest’s third van two years ago increased the charity’s capacity by 38 per cent: this June alone, they delivered nearly 116,400 meals — up from 88,000 per month in 2023.

The charities OzHarvest delivers to include big food pantries — Communities at Work, Vinnies Roadhouse, the Early Morning Centre, and Havelock House — as well as organisations not known for food relief: Oasis Youth Services (community housing for youth) or Canberra PCYC.

On the afternoon Canberra Daily interviewed Ms Scott, OzHarvest was delivering to the Vinnies Roadhouse, an evening meal service for people in crisis. Based in Civic, it offers hot evening meals, material aid, support, and referrals to people experiencing homelessness or social isolation.

“OzHarvest is useful for our companions in assisting those who are in the greatest need,” Roadhouse officer Timothy Murray said. “It means that people can get fresh fruit and veggies ever week, especially those who are really struggling.”

About 60 ‘companions’ come in each night — a 10 per cent increase over last year. Some are rough sleepers living on the streets, or in crisis accommodation — but a growing number are housed, but do not have enough money to buy groceries. The Roadhouse’s collaboration with OzHarvest is paramount in ensuring they get food, Mr Murray said.

Meat and vegetables are most in demand: basic needs that are also expensive.

“It’s a gift to be able to give that to people,” Mr Murray said. “We do this because we care for and love our community. … Not only do the services give practical support, but they build a trust and relationship, which means they’re more likely to reach out and make steps towards living the life they want to.”

Demand for food from services has increased by 25 per cent — in some cases, up to 75 per cent, VolunteeringACT reported earlier this year. Nationally, 72 per cent of charities need more food than OzHarvest can deliver; in the ACT, the figure is about half, Ms Scott estimates.

OzHarvest also runs two education programs: FEAST, which teaches school students to value food and nourish themselves; and NEST, a six-week program for adults to learn nutrition and cooking skills. Students waste less food, and eat healthy but physically blemished food that supermarkets once would not have sold, while one NEST participant, Ms Scott noted, even gained the confidence to use a cooking knife for the first time.

Although its yellow vans are a familiar sight on our roads, OzHarvest Canberra is a small branch: 40 volunteers and the equivalent of five full-time staff.

“We’re a well-known brand; people assume we’re well resourced,” Ms Scott said. “While we do our very best, and we work with the community to make sure that’s the case, we do a lot with very little.”

While grateful for some funding support from the ACT Government, OzHarvest seeks more sustainable funding to underpin its key operations.

“Resources are limited, so we can only rescue so much,” Ms Scott said.

The Department of Social Services’ recent increase of funding was a step in the right direction, she thinks, but there is still much work to be done.

The ACT has an advantage in that one minister, Suzanne Orr MLA, oversees both the environment and community services portfolio: food insecurity, Ms Scott explains, is linked to both, as it is to health.

OzHarvest also sees an opportunity to work with the ACT Government to develop the Food Action Relief Plan that independent MLA Thomas Emerson proposed this year. Ms Scott hopes it would not only support the community’s needs, but address core drivers, reducing that need.

“OzHarvest’s focus in Canberra is to consolidate and maintain food delivery,” Ms Scott said. “But without policy solutions that get to the crux of the markers that create poverty and impacts on those needing food security, policy challenges will have a flow-on effect.”

In October, OzHarvest will host a CEO cookoff at Matt Moran’s COMPA restaurant to raise awareness of the need for food support in Canberra, and to raise funds. 10 CEOs will work alongside chefs and serve a meal to community members.

Ms Scott encourages the public to support OzHarvest Canberra as a local organisation that supports the local community: “Get behind us when and where you can.”

Every $1 OzHarvest receives means it can deliver two meals. This makes a huge contribution, Ms Scott said: the organisations it supports can use their funds in a different way than buying food.

The public can donate money; run food drives; or host dinner parties where guests bring canned goods.

OzHarvest is also supported by corporate donors such as Icon Water and by smaller groups including the Fyshwick Swim School and the Rose Cottage Fishing Club.

For more information, visit https://www.ozharvest.org/your-local-ozharvest/canberra/.