TRANSCRIPT
A large shed filled with dusty boxes is all that remains of Richard Byers' family business.
"We've got all these plants and flowers, we've got boxes and boxes and boxes of them, we've got thousands in stock that we're just trying to clear out."
He ran a small wholesaling company in South Australia for over a decade, earning more than enough to support his family.
Then his prospects changed.
"I had prostate cancer which came as quite a shock, and I was operated on and fortunately they got it all it was inside the prostate rather than outside so the surgeon said to me I can give you at least 15 years Richard."
While Richard took time to recover, his business suffered.
"The recovery was about three months and it just affected the business terribly, when we went back to see our clients they all just said 'sorry Richard we have been buying elsewhere now and we couldn't get it from you so we have gone elsewhere.'"
The Byers family are now looking to sell their property a couple hours north of Adelaide and they're cutting back on spending.
"We used to go out quite a lot to restaurants and you know we just had a perfect life I guess would be the way to describe it. I don’t even remember the last time we went out for a meal."
Every fortnight Richard and his wife Kimberly drive 40 minutes to a nearby town to do their grocery shop at a mobile Foodbank van. The couple both enjoy cooking but Kimberly tends to take charge in the Kitchen.
"The last meal I made was a shepherds pie, mince is usually 2.50 to $3 sometimes, with the free veggies it's like a 3-5 dollar meal for three people and it does usually two meals, for us. You can't generally buy that sort of stuff in a shopping centre. By the time you buy mince which is usually like 13 dollars, bag of spuds depending on what you get can be 4 - 5 dollars and then the carrots if its 'The Odd Bunch' its one to two dollars. So that’s at least half price the meal I can make from Foodbank. Which is very handy especially when you have a growing teenager."
The Byers are part of a growing number of Australians relying on charities for food. The country's largest food relief agency, Foodbank, says millions of Australian households are experiencing food insecurity.
Brianna Casey is the charity's national CEO.
"We are seeing households across Australia making impossible choices, between heating and eating, between whether or not they can feed themselves and their children."
Foodbank's annual hunger report analyses data from across the country to identify where there is the most need for help, and they say single-parent households are the most at risk.
Over two thirds of these households are facing food insecurity and 41 per cent are regularly skipping meals or going entire days without food.
"We are seeing parents who are skipping meals, because they are trying to shield their children from the realities of food insecurity, they're making the most extraordinary sacrifices."
Australia’s charities are continuing to grapple with historically high demand for food relief.
Food insecure households are buying their groceries from charities much more often, with a 53 per cent increase in the number of families seeking support.
Increasingly, family and friends are no longer in a position to help fill the gap.
"Previously we were managing perfectly fine, we had a business and were able to support other people, so we were the ones who usually give help, but we got to the point where we had no choice, we needed the help, and it took a lot of guts to say 'hey, I need some help', but everyone was really lovely and the Foodbank staff were really really... they didn't make you feel uncomfortable."
As more families struggle with the rising cost of living, Brianna Casey says government funding is critical.
"We know that recovery from the cost of living crisis isn’t going to happen over night, we are prepared for it take months, and in fact years. And we need to ensure food relief organisations are adequately funded and supported to make sure we can keep our arms wrapped around the community that entire time."
