Food has always provided me with a sense of enjoyment.
I live in Melbourne but was born in Sri Lanka. I came out to Australia when I was around three years old and grew up eating Sri Lankan cuisine.
Around age 19, I got into cooking and started making dishes for myself. I am quite independent and usually cook with a support worker for my safety (but I do all the work). It’s lots of fun. I make a lot of dishes from around the world – Chinese, Malaysian, Sri Lankan and Italian. It’s nice to mix flavours and colours, to create a dish and then taste it.
However, there is one part of cooking that is currently a big challenge. It’s opening jars, tins and bottles of food. I have cerebral palsy, which makes some tasks that involve strength and fine motor skills quite challenging.
Cooking is something that brings people joy, so everyone is entitled to do it.
One day, I was in the kitchen trying to open a jar of food on my own. I really struggled. If a lid is reasonably gripped onto a jar, I can usually open it without any issues. But this lid was screwed on the jar so tightly that I could not release it. I tried using assistive equipment to help but I just couldn’t open the jar.
Being unable to open a jar of food impacts your confidence and quality of life. Cooking is something that brings people joy, so everyone is entitled to do it.
I don’t think anyone should be excluded from cooking because they can’t open a jar or bottle of food due to inaccessible packaging. People should live with freedom and choice.
Food packaging needs to change
I know there are many people in the community who’ve experienced a similar situation. Not all of us have ‘young abled bodied’ man strength to open jars or bottles that are sealed very tight. In fact, a report from Arthritis Australia of consumers experience difficulty with opening packaging ‘every day’.
Specifically, the inaccessibility of food packaging impacts the lives of people living with a disability. in Australia lives with a disability, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. One in three people with a disability has a profound or severe disability.
It also affects the elderly. Approximately 4.2 million people living in Australia are aged 65 and older – some elderly consumers would also struggle with food packaging.
Something needs to be done in this space to make food packaging more inclusive and accessible to all consumers – including people with disabilities and the elderly. There needs to be a global change to promote accessibility in food packaging led by food brands.
I would like to see designers and engineers creating inclusive designs for food products with accessible packaging.
Being asked to provide feedback is great. Companies then acting on that feedback is even better.
Companies could also include people with disabilities, elderly consumers and occupational therapists in decision-making processes when designing food packages. We could give them feedback on what is easy to open, what isn’t and what needs to change. In fact, this should be a standard process across the world in the future.
I have created a to gather support on this issue. I aim to raise 15,000 signatures from people who share my passion to help motivate popular Australian brands to take action and change. People's power can create more real change than one person alone.
"I believe that if we move towards a more inclusive society, it will be a better society." Source: Supplied
If you work for an organisation or brand, and are interested in improving the accessibility and inclusivity of food packaging, you can reach out to me for feedback or seek the opinion of a disability group. Being asked to provide feedback is great. Companies then acting on that feedback is even better.
I believe that if we move towards a more inclusive society, it will be a better society. There would be less stress and less worry. There would be more happiness, more choice and a lot more cooking.
