Charity launches school lunches to combat rising food insecurity
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Eat Up, a charity in Australia, began providing free lunches to every student at Elizabeth Street Primary School in Moe, Victoria, to address increasing food insecurity among children.
The Spoonfull program offers healthy meals like chicken pasta and tuna rolls daily, aiming to improve student wellbeing and learning. Wellbeing officer Carol O’Reilly noticed students arriving at school without breakfast and advocated for the program, which she says has already improved student welfare and academic performance.
Eat Up has delivered over 6 million free lunches to children in need over the past 15 years. This new program differs from their previous on-demand model by providing a sustainable, long-term solution for schools. Australian Bureau of Statistics data from 2023 indicates that 16 to 22 percent of Australian children experience food insecurity, with single-parent and low-income families most affected. The charity funded kitchen upgrades at Elizabeth Street Primary School to support the program, including new fridges and ovens.
Eat Up plans to expand Spoonfull to two more schools if they receive enough support, hoping to eventually offer the program nationwide to address the growing number of families needing food assistance.
