From this week, the ASRC’s food truck will be open for business, selling fresh produce from its temporary base at Thomastown Primary School.
The food truck will sell groceries to asylum seekers at 75 per cent less than market prices. The social enterprise will also sell produce to other residents at retail prices, to subsidise the discounted rate.
ASRC research identifies Whittlesea as home to the fourth-largest asylum seeker community in Victoria.
Whittlesea mayor Ricky Kirkham said the Food Justice Truck would tackle the growing sense of food insecurity felt by more than 10,000 people in Victoria seeking asylum and who hold bridging visas that prevent them from working.
Thomastown Primary School student welfare co-ordinator Judith Zenables said about 16 per cent of pupils were asylum seekers, mostly from Iraq and India.
She said the food truck would tie in with the school’s vegetable garden, and would be a huge help for parents struggling to feed their children fresh, nutritious food.
“We know it’s often the asylum seeker families who have difficulty paying for the extras, for camps and swimming classes, so anything that can help, we would welcome,” Ms Zenables said.
The food truck will be at the primary school every Tuesday between 3pm and 6pm. It will sell ethically sourced and locally produced fresh fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes and bread.
