Mark Butler (Port Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to share today the success story of a not-for profit-community centre, Community Food SA Inc. Community Food SA is a fantastic hub that provides low-cost food and groceries to low-income families and individuals in Adelaide, with a focus on the north-western and north-eastern suburbs. Established in 1989, Community Food SA has generously served the public for almost two decades and has around 80 committed volunteers offering affordable groceries for new arrivals, the unemployed, people with disabilities and pensioners. I am very proud of South Australia’s volunteer participation rate, sitting at around 600,000 active volunteers or about 50 per cent of the South Australian adult population. I think this says something about the spirit of our southern state. Community Food SA volunteers have also been acknowledged with several awards for service to the community, including the Australia Day Award and Citizen of the Year by the Port Adelaide Enfield Council.

The food centre also offers opportunities for work experience to those in the community who would otherwise be excluded from practical experience in a busy work environment, making the participants more likely to find paid work as a result. The true litmus test is the high patronage levels at the centre’s Cromwell Road premises. Approximately 1,500 people visit the food outlet at Kilburn each week, which services around 500 to 600 families. Practical everyday items are available like fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy products and fresh bread at lower resale amounts than at the average supermarket, allowing families to purchase what they need, not just what they can afford. This also provides shoppers with the option to buy healthier choices like fresh fruit and produce that they may otherwise not be able to afford.

The centre has many other benefits, including the incorporation of Arnolds Cafe, a low-cost cafe with a family-friendly atmosphere providing opportunities for members of the community to meet other locals, make new friends and establish important social support networks. For many low-income families, the shopping experience can bring on feelings of anxiety and despair—the stress of examining budgets on a daily basis and relying on the generosity of others to make ends meet. The community food centre helps ease some of the burdens on households by incorporating other practical initiatives like courses and demonstrations on cooking nutritious meals on a budget and managing family finances. Often the quickest and cheapest meals are not the most nutritious or, in the long term, in the health interests of the consumer. This cooking program helps to improve eating options for families. The successful Community Food SA Inc. model is a great asset to the local community in and around the electorate of Port Adelaide and one that I would recommend other jurisdictions around the country emulate to benefit those who are most in need of assistance and support.