More than 84,000 households in Tasmania struggled to put a meal on the table last year, according to new data from Foodbank.
The latest Foodbank Hunger Report, released today, reveals that the number of Tasmanians experiencing food insecurity has jumped by around 18,000 since 2022.
The charity says the main reason 87% of households are struggling to meet their food needs is the cost-of-living crisis, with 33% of food-insecure households across the state also spending thousands of dollars on their mortgages each month.
Foodbank Tasmania Board Director Robert Higgins said the cost of food and shelter is now the “most common cause of food insecurity” in the state and country.
“We have an increasing number of people struggling to secure adequate food and the housing crisis is only exacerbating the problem, with half of all renters and a third of all mortgage holders food insecure in the last 12 months,” Higgins said.
“We are fast heading towards a reality where more than half the population will know what food insecurity is because they are experiencing it themselves.”
Higgins says “almost one in two Australians” have felt worried about getting enough food or had trouble accessing food regularly.
“Right here in Tasmania there were 54,000 households in the past year that skipped meals or went entire days without eating.”
“In a country where we produce enough food to feed our population three times over, this should not be happening.”
