Free webinar discussing rural food security amid Covid-19

Australia’s peak rural health body will hold a free webinar about food security amid the coronavirus crisis.

SHORTAGES: Panic buying cleaned out supermarket shelves at the height of the coronavirus crisis, sparking a discussion on food security in rural and remote Australia to be held June 29. (Picture: Daniel Stringer)

THE peak body for Australian rural health will hold a free online chat about food security in June.

The National Rural Health Alliance will hold the virtual conversation at noon on June 29 and it’s now open for registration.

The conversation, titled ‘Affordable and nourishing food for rural and remote communities during Covid-19 and beyond’, will feature Woolworths Centre for Child Nutrition Research chairwoman Danielle Gallegos, OzHarvest CEO Ronni Kahn, Central Land Council policy manager Josie Douglas and Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation dietitian Khia de Silva.

National Rural Health Alliance CEO Gabrielle O’Kane said access to affordable and nutritious food was vital for rural communities.

“Many people in Australia are fortunate to have a reliable and secure food supply,” she said.

“But this often isn’t the case for people living in rural and remote communities.

“Recent bushfires and now Covid-19 have disrupted traditional supply chains and have made food security issues in some rural and remote communities even worse.

“We’ve all seen the images of empty supermarket shelves and panic buying in recent months.

“This virtual conversation will allow us to explore a broader range of perspectives on food security in rural and remote Australia.”

Dr O’Kane said the barriers to affordable food are different in rural areas than cities.

“We particularly want to explore issues of food security in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and we look forward to hearing from Khia de Silva and Josie Douglas about some of these challenges and opportunities.

“We encourage anyone to attend who has an interest in food security, nutrition or rural health.

“We want to highlight not only the challenges that exist but explore practical policy solutions that can help us into the future.”

Information about the virtual conversation and registration details are available here.

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