Food Security in the Blue Mountains

Food security is essentially having readily accessible food at all times. At a minimum, food should be nutritionally adequate for a healthy and active life and be affordable, safe and culturally acceptable. Factors like food supply and food access directly affect food security in the Mountains.

The NSW Centre for Public Health and Nutrition (2003) have identified that the adequacy of food supply is determined by location of retailers, prices, quality, variety and promotion. Food access includes an individual's nutritional knowledge, food preparation skills, cooking facilities and skills, time, mobility, social support and the distance and availability of transport to the food stores.

Some of the key facts about food security at a national and state level are (SWAHS and NSW Health, 2005):

• Groups known to experience food insecurity include those in remote areas, Indigenous Australians, homeless people, injecting drug users and those on a low or insecure income. Young people, older people, one-person households, unemployed people, people with disabilities and some immigrants and their families are likely to be at a higher risk of food insecurity due to relative poverty (NSW Health, 2004).
• In the short-term food insecurity causes hunger, fatigue and mental anguish. In the long-term it has a high cost to individuals, families and society due to reduced physical, mental and social health and wellbeing (NSW Health, 2004).
• The 2001 NSW Child Health Survey found that 6.2% of parents reported that in the last 12 months they had run out of food and could not afford to buy more.  This study also found that geogrphaically remote, indigenous and non-tertiary educated parents were more likely to run out of food (NSW Centre for Public Health Nutrition, 2003).
• In the 1999 NSW Older People's Health Survey 1.9% of the older population reported that in the last 12 months they had run out of food and could not afford to buy more (NSW Centre for Public Health Nutrition, 2003).
• The 1995 Australian National Nutrition Survey found that 5.2% of adults were food insecure (NSW Centre for Public Health Nutrition, 2003).
• Food insecurity is a complex issue.  Action to understand and address key issues should be community-led, inter-sectoral and comprehensive (NSW Health, 2004).

Some facts about Katoomba and Food Security

Katoomba has:

• The highest proportion of Blue Mountains families with children living off household incomes below $399 per week (17.6%); the state average is 13.2% (Blue Mountains City Council, 2004).
• The largest Indigenous population in the Blue Mountains (Fairfax, 2007).
• An unemployment rate of 9.5% (NSW state average 5.3%) (Census, 2001).
• 24.3% single parent households (NSW state average 15%) (Census, 2001).
• 21.4% of households without a car (NSW state average 13.5%) (Census, 2001).
• Limited public transport and home delivery services (SWAHS, 2004).
• 60.9% of renters experiencing rental stress (rental stress is defined as an outlay of 30% or more on rent of net household income) (WAHS, 2003).
• A significantly higher rate of mental disorders for 15-24 year olds than that of the state average (WAHS, 2003).
• A relatively high demand for emergency food relief (SWAHS, 2006).
• A significant number of residents who access emergency food relief services, most commonly: people who live alone, receive Centrelink benefits or have mental health problems (SWAHS, 2006).
• Residents who cannot afford to purchase a healthy diet.  The Katoomba Food Retail Price Mapping Project found that three different household types (a 70 year old man living alone, a single mother with 2 young children and a couple with 2 children) would have to spend 21-29% of their total income (based on common Centrelink payments) to purchase a healthy diet from local shops (SWAHS, 2004).

Furthermore, approximately 50% of No Interest Loans (NILS) in the Blue Mountains, are for people wishing to purchase a refrigerator.  (Conversation with Manager of Lower Mountains Neighbourhood Centre, 2005, SWAHS and NSW Health, 2005).

References

Anderson SA. Core Indicators of nutritional status of difficult to sample populations. 1990. Journal of Nutrition 120: 1559-1600.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census Data 2001.

Blue Mountains City Council, 2004 Looking After People, Blue Mountains State of the Community Profile.

Eat Well NSW Strategic Directions for public health nutrition 2003 to 2007, NSW Health, 2004.

Fairfax, Walkabout Australian Travel Guide www.walkabout.com.au/locations/NSWKatoomba website accessed 2007

NSW Centre for Public Health Nutrition (2003). Food Security Options Paper: A planning framework and menu of options for policy and practice interventions.

Better Health Centre, Sydney.

Kendall A, Kennedy E. Position of the American Dietetic Association, 1998, 98:337-342.

SWAHS (Sydney West Area Health Service) June 2004, Katoomba Food Retail Price Mapping Project.

SWAHS (Sydney West Area Health Service) 2006, Katoomba Food Project: Emergency Food Relief Report.

SWAHS (Sydney West Area Health Service) and NSW Health 2005, Food Security Fact Sheet.

Wentworth Area Health Service (WAHS), 2003. Population Health Unit - Health and Equity Profiling.

This item was posted in November 2007.