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TRANSCRIPT:
Volunteers are handing out hampers at a charity in Sydney’s west.
Free food is a welcome gift … and some have travelled for hours by public transport to get here.
Joumana Kartabeel is among those grateful for a box of staples.
"Life is very difficult. It's hard to make ends meet, especially with children. These hampers help cover some of the costs."
Ms Kartabeel is from Lebanon and lost her husband five years ago.
She is raising two young children and is among many helped by Sydney Community Connect, a charity set up to support those most vulnerable including refugees and people at risk of homelessness.
During the fasting month, the focus is on feeding families in need, as President Joumana Menzalji explains.
''To spread the generosity and the blessing of Ramadan among our community. So, we were distributing the food for everybody."
The free food hampers are packed at a warehouse in Sydney’s Greenacre.
Volunteer Omar Jabouri from Iraq is a former recipient.
"It is a beautiful feeling to put a smile on the face of someone in need."
Ms Menzalji says the gift of a food hamper can free up cash for other needs, like children’s education or clothing.
"If we give them a food hamper with $150 worth of goods, that's going to give them a credit of $150 to spend somewhere else. The need is increasing, the number of people demanding support is increasing."
According to Foodbank, one third of all Australian households experienced food insecurity last year.
Ms Menzalji is moved by hardship many face.
"Sometimes it put tears in my eyes when I see a gentleman coming politely asking, "I need to help my family, but I'm embarrassed. I don't have a dollar in my pocket. Is any way you can help me?"
Food may soon get more expensive as global energy prices soar, due to conflict in the Middle East.
Lachlan Halloway is a strategist at data and analytics company, Morningstar.
"Certainly, if we see sustained rise in oil prices that will likely pass through two costs for Australians - like their petrol price but also other indirect forms of energy like transport, for example, and that could put pressure on cost-of-living pressures that many Australians are already under. If it's a much longer war, particularly if there's a closure of the Strait of Hormuz for any lengthy period of time, that could have much more significant ramifications for oil prices and for global growth."
The federal government is developing a National Food Security Strategy to help ensure a sustainable, resilient and secure food system.
It is overseen by the National Food Council.
Among its thought-leaders: Andrew Henderson, a senior fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
"This conflict in the Middle East is yet another case study of why we need a national food security strategy that takes into account the security of very basic things that we take for granted like liquid fuels. We're going to see an increase in price, absolutely. But if it drags on, we're going to see a decrease in supply potentially that'll have flow on impacts. Imagine what's going to happen when people really have problems accessing food on the supermarket shelves. Now we don't want it to get to that, but we need to take a very calm and methodical approach to planning to mitigate that risk."
With interest rates likely to remain high according to the Reserve Bank, families may increasingly struggle to meet basic needs.
Many services like Sydney Community Connect are already battling to keep up, as Ms Menzalji explains.
"Interest rates, the cost-of-living, everything is very expensive. Life has become very difficult, especially for an average family. We can't support as much as we want, but we’re trying our best. We don't want to disappoint anyone."
