Most Tuesday mornings, Marion Duckett makes the journey from her home in Richmond in Melbourne's inner east to Fitzroy in the city's inner north.
The purpose? To buy her fruit and vegetables for the week at a pop-up market held in the grounds of the Atherton Gardens public housing estate.
"I never walk out (of) here paying more than $20, and I've got a huge bag full of groceries today," the 63-year-old tells SBS News.
"If I were to do that at, say, Coles or Woolies, or whatever, I would not get that much for the price."
Marion Duckett says she never ends up spending more than $20 at the market. Source: SBS News
She says if the market didn't exist, she wouldn't be able to buy fresh produce as often as she does, causing her health to suffer.
"It means that I eat rubbish and it means that I don't do so well, mentally," she says of the times when she's unable to access fresh produce.
"I feel I need to nourish myself properly and when I can't afford it, I don't; it's as simple as that.
"Coming here and being able to afford it allows me to keep healthy."
Georgia Savage is general manager of the Community Grocer - the Melbourne-based non-profit that runs the weekly market in Fitzroy, as well as two others in Carlton and Pakenham.
"We know that in inner-city Melbourne, there are affordable fresh food deserts," she tells SBS News.
"Generally they're gentrified areas where food is very expensive, but there are pockets of areas and communities who are experiencing food insecurity.
"Our markets provide access to affordable food; we remove the physical barriers and the economic barriers."
Georgia Savage is the general manager of the Community Grocer. Source: SBS News
"All up, we're serving around 200 households every week through our markets," she says.
"We have 39 different languages spoken by customers at our markets, so it's a really culturally and linguistically diverse community.
"We try and meet their cultural food needs by asking people what they would like to see at the market."
Fruit is the most popular produce at the Community Grocer markets - namely watermelon and bananas. Source: SBS News
The Community Grocer's latest impact report, conducted by Monash University between September and November this year, found that on average, surrounding fresh food outlets were 56 per cent more expensive than the non-profit's three markets.
For culturally relevant foods, the prices are "significantly different", Savage says.
"We know the market is incredibly impactful for those people who might otherwise either have to purchase cheaper, unhealthy options, they might have to go without or rely on emergency food relief, which might not be the right solution for them," she says.
"Because they have a local market right at the base of the place where they live, we know that our customers are eating more fruit and veg as a result of having affordable access.
"That's having an impact on food security, but also nutrition."
How prevalent is food insecurity in Australia?
Almost half (48 per cent) of the Australian population feels anxious about or struggles to consistently access adequate food, according to .
It also found that 3.7 million Australian households experienced food insecurity in the last year - more than the number of households in Sydney and Melbourne combined - a jump of almost 350,000 from the previous year.
More than 2.3 million of those households were "severely food insecure", meaning they were actively going hungry, reducing their food intake, skipping meals or going entire days without eating.
Increased living expenses were cited as the most common reason (79 per cent) people were experiencing food insecurity.
"Everything has gone up to a degree where I'm absolutely stunned by how much it costs just to live," Marion says.
"It doesn't matter where you go, the prices have risen so dramatically."
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) , headline inflation was 4.9 per cent in the 12 months to October 2023.
During that period, and non-alcoholic beverages increased by an average of 5.3 per cent across the eight capital cities.
Bread and cereal products rose 8.5 per cent; dairy and related products 7.8 per cent; meat and seafood jumped 1.8 per cent; and fruit and vegetables 1 per cent.
"We are definitely seeing an increase in demand, and we're also seeing a little bit of a shift in the customers who are shopping with us," she says.
"We're seeing more people from the surrounding community who are experiencing the pressures of cost of living coming to shop with us, so that includes students and international students, family households, and older people who might be struggling to cover all of the bills and rent and food, as well.
"We all have the right to access affordable, nutritious, culturally relevant food," Savage says.
The Community Grocer stocks over 60 different types of fruit and vegetables. Source: SBS News
More than just a market
Beyond making fresh produce more financially and physically accessible, Savage says the markets serve other vital purposes.
"We also prevent social exclusion by creating a vibrant marketplace where community members can come down, connect, share a meal, and spend time with one another," she says.
"This might be the one time in a week that they come out of their flat and engage with community.
"It's a really beautiful space."
Several customers SBS News spoke to at the Fitzroy market highlighted the community feel as one of the reasons they kept returning.
"The staff are really good with my kids," Kifaya Mohammed, who has been shopping at the market every week for the last couple of months, says.
"I don't really mind to go around and shop by myself because they're going to take care of the kids."
Kifaya Mohammed has been going to the Community Grocer's Fitzroy market for around two months. Source: SBS News
"The shops give me the heebie-jeebies," he says.
"I find difficult the glare inside the shop, and the music. Sometimes, just, I can't breathe.
"You don't know who is behind the counter and sometimes you have to pay by machines ... it's too much."
Tuan visits The Community Grocer's Fitzroy market every week. Source: SBS News
"Then, we think we can fit one more market into our week, which will bring us to five markets," she says.
"We're looking at other inner-city public housing, high-rise estates."
That's something Marion says she would welcome with open arms.
"I love the atmosphere. The people are very friendly," she says.
"These sorts of places are absolutely essential, in my view, in the inner city.
"It would be good to have it in as many suburbs as we can."
