When it comes to fresh food, rural Australians miss out on the fruits of their labour – literally.
One of the great ironies in Australian nutrition is that people living in the regions which produce the country’s fresh food also find it harder to access that food in local stores.
It’s time for the government to step in on food insecurity for rural and remote communities, the Rural Doctors’ Association of Australia argues.
The association said food security for the regions was “an easy target for any party” in the upcoming election and called for a broad extension of the food security program currently being implemented in 76 remote Indigenous communities.
“Because factors like increased transport costs and chilled or cool storage requirements pushes up the price of many fresh foods, rural shoppers are often left relying on less nutritious produce with easier storage, such as dried or canned options, or are forced to drive long distances to larger towns with supermarkets able to stock fresh produce, as well as fresh milk, eggs, and other staples,” RDAA president Dr RT Lewandowski said.
According to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, increased rurality is tied to a higher likelihood of inadequate fruit consumption, but not inadequate vegetable consumption.
Related
Outer regional and remote Australians were also more likely to have diabetes or COPD.
“Bananas are a … nutritious, filling, convenient fruit that travels well,” Dr Lewandowski said.
“They’re a good source of potassium, antioxidants and fibre, and can help reduce the risk of chronic disease, improve gut health and more.
“But regardless of how great they are for your health, if you can’t buy them you won’t get any benefit.”
Funded through the Closing the Gap scheme, the $71.4 million Indigenous community food security initiative will subsidise the cost of 30 essential products at eligible remote grocery stores.
Each participating store will sign a national code of practice with specific conditions on price monitoring to ensure prices do not go up.
Currently only nine goods are subsidised, none of which are fresh food.
The remaining 21, which are yet to be confirmed, will be added from July.
A maximum of 152 remote stores operating in remote First Nations communities will be involved.
Dr Lewandowski called for the scheme to go wider.
“We are seeing this all too often with government initiatives,” he said.
“While they are great for the people who can access them, there are millions of people living in rural and remote communities that simply can’t.”
