Canowindra CWA are encouraging people to eat seasonal produce.
Canowindra Branch of the CWA is taking on the issues around food sustainability during this year’s annual Awareness Week campaign, as figures show the alarming number of NSW and ACT families without enough to eat, and the millions of tonnes of food Australians are wasting each year.
CWA of NSW Awareness Week will run from September 7 to 13, with the focus on:
• Increasing public understanding of the benefits of seasonal eating, highlighting the health, economic, and environmental benefits to consumers and local producers;
• Highlighting ways to help household grocery budgets go further – and help ease cost-of-living pressures – with strategies like consuming foods that are in season;
• Highlighting the amount of food currently wasted by Australian households each year, and ways to help reduce this waste, particularly through increased awareness and education; and
• Advocating for the introduction of a national Food Donation Tax Incentive.
Cathy Smith, Branch President of the Canowindra Branch of the CWA of NSW, said food sustainability issues were important for NSW and ACT residents to have a clearer understanding of, if they were to make changes in their own households, and wider communities.
“These issues were highlighted by several motions from our recent State Conference.
Adhering more to eating foods that are in season, and even locally-grown, can make a real difference to household budgets, our health and levels of food waste. And the food donation tax we’re advocating for just makes good sense when you look at the waste figures for Australia, and then the amount of people who go hungry each night,” Cathy said. “It’s just not right.”
According to Foodbank, more than 7.6 million tonnes of food goes to waste each year – enough to fill the Melbourne Cricket Grounds nine times. It costs the nation $36.6 billion despite 70% of it being perfectly edible. At the same time more than 640,000 households in NSW and the ACT experienced severe food insecurity in the last 12 months, and this is being felt more acutely in the regions with 36% of households compared to 28% in metropolitan centres.
This year, the campaign has two Ambassadors to help spread the message, with Orange-based food writer and seasonal eating advocate Sophie Hansen and CEO of food relief organisation Foodbank, Brianna Casey, both partnering with the CWA of NSW.
“As the CWA of NSW we have a long history of showing the value in learning how to prepare food at home, and how to make the most of the food you buy in terms of storage options and strategies like preserving, particularly seasonal fruits and vegetables,” Cathy said.
“A big motivation for people to learn how to make the most of the food they spend their money on is to reduce waste, and make your household budget go further.
When we see the figures around how much Australians waste in food each year, it’s astonishing, and all the more alarming when you also consider how many NSW and ACT households are experiencing food insecurity. As the CWA of NSW we’re also concerned about the number of these households in rural and regional areas, compared with metropolitan areas.
“Things need to change and this Awareness Week we’re turning our focus to these issues and showing our communities how they can make a big difference not only in their own homes, but in their communities and for other Australians.”