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Crates of sandwiches, fresh fruit and yogurt are being delivered to a school in Melbourne’s west.
This is a return to routine that has a significant impact for many students, who arrive at school every day on an empty stomach. Karen Wood, Senior Director at Movelle, explains:
“We know we are facing many financial challenges, not just in the western suburbs, but across Victoria as a whole, but more so in our region. We have a lot of families who are facing a lot of economic hardship. Eating healthier is currently costing families more. So a lot of kids have what I would describe as junk in their lunch boxes.
Although 90 percent of Australian students bring their own lunch, most of it has little nutritional value, according to recent studies.
Worse yet, this year more and more students are not bringing anything at all for lunch, and some also haven’t had breakfast.
Director Wood says the demand for free food is increasing.
“Certainly, it’s probably increased by about 40 percent, but we’re also noticing that at the end of the week there’s not even a pay cycle, but rather a shopping cycle for families. Thursday and Friday are our busiest days because we know more students will be coming. for those who are hungry.
The free food is provided by Eat Up, a non-profit organization based in Melbourne.
It is run by Lyndon Galea, who started preparing lunches for hungry students in 2013, in his hometown of Shepparton.
“There was an article that unfortunately profiled the two schools closest to my house, where children were arriving without food from home and, by lunchtime, were simply missing something. And I was completely shocked and I wanted to help. It was something personal that happened in your hometown, and that’s what I did. It was actually on my mother’s kitchen table at the time and I pinched what I could from her cupboards, bread, cheese, mushrooms, Vegemite, cling film, I I bought extra bread and together we prepared around a hundred sandwiches for these first two schools.
Since then, Eat Up has grown exponentially and now supports over 900 schools across the country.
But Mr Galea says this year it will be more difficult to meet growing demand.
“We have seen a big increase in need, in fact a 49 percent increase across the country in the last financial year that we have been supporting these schools. And schools are telling us directly that the cost of living crisis is putting enormous pressure on families. If you don’t pay the rent, you leave the house. If you don’t pay the electricity bill, the lights go out. So, it’s often food that is the thing that sees the most significant reductions. And unfortunately, this is reflected in children arriving at school without food. »
The scale of this operation is staggering: three and a half million meals delivered to date.
Of these, a million were deposited in the past year alone! Mr. Galea explains that this would not be possible without an army of volunteers!
“That actually represents around 15,000 volunteers each year. So it’s huge. We have five delivery vans operating across the country. They each travel more than 30,000 kilometers to deliver all these lunches to schools that need them. And I am so grateful to every individual, every team member, every volunteer, every donor. It’s the ultimate collaboration.
Among those proud to give of their time is Davina Onas, CEO of KCL Law in Melbourne.
“We were the very first corporate organization to get involved. So we started in 2016 and we’ve had them ever since and we love them. It’s definitely a team effort. Sometimes you can give back to the community by financially supporting an organization, which we also do. But actually participating in making the sandwiches has an immediate effect and it’s a really great feeling for everyone involved.
At one luncheon, the law firm’s 20 volunteers prepared more than 2,000 sandwiches – all gratefully received by Eat Up CEO Elise Cook.
“There are children who come to school hungry and we are here to feed these children. And by feeding these children, we help them get the most out of their school day, thereby improving their academic performance.
And these educational outcomes are a priority for Dietitions Australia President Tara Diversi.
“If they don’t eat breakfast, they miss out on a lot and that can mean they have lower concentration levels. When children eat a healthy lunch box, it means they can concentrate throughout the day, but it also means they can access the nutrients they need. What we would like to see in a lunch box is things like vegetables and fruits and arranging them in different ways, using some of those homemade foods, things like using cereals and grain cereals whole foods, but also a certain type of dairy product.
Prices of fruit and vegetables increased by 7.5 percent in the 12 months to July. Professor Rebecca Golley, from Flinders University, says families are struggling to afford a nutritious lunch box at school.
“Children consume about half of their food intake at school and we know that the majority of this comes from high-density, high-fat, high-sugar and high-salt foods. And we definitely know that these are cheap foods.
That’s one reason academics are calling for a national school meals program, says Professor Danielle Gallegos of the Queensland University of Technology.
“Australia is one of the few countries in the world without a national school meals program. If we don’t do this, we will start to see children not being able to reach their full potential. Ultimately, our economic productivity will decline. If we want to be at the forefront internationally, we will need to start thinking about what a school meals program looks like, and not just for families who are struggling, but for all families. »
Many countries already provide students with healthy meals daily. Lyndon Galea, founder of Eat Up, is taking part in an international fact-finding mission this month to find out more.
“I am very fortunate to have received the Churchill Fellowship and to be able to travel to countries where the school model is the norm for them and where they are world leaders in this regard. So I’m very lucky to be visiting Japan, Italy, the UK and the US in the coming weeks to learn from what they are doing in the hope that we can similarly support Australian children who have the greatest needs.
