Over 150 people from the packaging industry came together in Brisbane on Friday to pack hampers for those in need during the holiday season.
A total of 1100 hampers were packed for hunger relief company Foodbank, including 800 family hampers and 300 ladies' packs.
Over $73,000 worth of items and funds were either donated or raised by associations and the wider industry.
This included the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP), the Australian Packaging & Processing Machinery Association (APPMA), the Supply Chain & Logistics Association of Australia (SCLAA) and the QLD Supply Chain and Logistics Conference (QSCLC).
Over the last seven years, the team has packed 6500 hampers to the value of nearly $730,000 for people in need, and they look forward to packing even more hampers in 2018.
Foodbank has called on the Federal Government to respond to issues of food waste and food insecurity in a National Food Waste Strategy which addresses Australia’s $20 billion food waste problem.
However, CEO Brianna Casey said a National Food Insecurity Strategy was required to ensure both problems are addressed.
"How can it be that we produce enough food in Australia to feed approximately 60 million people, yet 3.6 million Australians were food-insecure last year?" she said.
The latest Foodbank Hunger Report revealed 3.6 million Australians (15% of the population) were food-insecure, meaning they had experienced uncertainty around where their next meal was coming from in the last 12 months.
To combat hunger in Australia, Foodbank works with farmers, manufacturers, and retailers to source fresh and manufactured foods for vulnerable Australians in need.
