BendigoWeekly www.bendigoweekly.com.au
ISSUE 1023 FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2017
Work the perfect medicine THERE isn’t much in the pharmacy game that John Lindsay hasn’t seen. In a rapidly-changing industry, Mr Lindsay has greeted customers with a friendly smile for 55 years, starting in Melbourne before moving to Bendigo and opening his own business in Hargreaves Mall. For 24 years he has worked at Arnold Street Pharmacy, a stint that comes to an end on Monday when he works his final shift. He plans to spend the bulk of his spare time travelling, with grandchildren and in the garden, but admits he will miss working. – Story Page 12
OFF THE MENU Photo: ANDREW PERRYMAN
By SHARON KEMP
BENDIGO is becoming a food desert with greater access to fast or unhealthy food than nutritious fare, a problem extending also to people who ask for emergency relief. The city is marked by the statistic that more than one in 10 of its residents is classified as food insecure, which means they lack reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. According to City of Greater
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Agencies suffering from shortage
Bendigo community partnerships manager Stephen Abbott, the proportion of local people who suffer food insecurity is more than twice the Victorian average of 4.6 per cent. Part of the issue in Bendigo is that unhealthy food is often cheaper and more available. As the need for fresh food becomes more urgent, emergency relief
services work together to try and fill the bellies of Bendigo’s hungry families. But time is not always on their side. Salvation Army divisional doorways coordinator Kaye Viney said some local emergency relief agencies were forced to turn away clients at this time of year, when they can be most vulnerable.
Two more in IBAC spotlight – Page 3
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www.heatholders.com.au
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“Everyone is struggling with having more people to feed and not enough to go around,” Ms Viney said. She said the onset of winter coincided with the end of the financial year, and agencies that had already spent their budget were unable to help people struggling to make their own household budget stretch to essentials.
Both she and Mr Abbott said Bendigo’s agencies were adept at jumping in to cover each other when they had to. Emergency food is sourced mainly from Bendigo Foodshare and its Long Gully depot. Its main source of fresh produce as well as nonperishable goods is rescued food from Foodbank Victoria in Melbourne. Where it goes can depend on the specific demand at the time. Continued Page 6
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