“I feel strongly that we should as a nation have some kind of way of giving people in remote parts ccess to fresh food at capital city supermarket prices. It wouldn’t cost us much in relative terms,”

“We give a huge diesel fuel rebate to mining companies and yet we don’t invest in the health of people, particularly children.”

She advocates a junk food tax to reduce the cost of fresh food and encouraging more locally produced food

University of SA Professor Kerin O’Dea

The Ngaanyatjarra Health Service (NACCHO member) provides health care to 2300 people living in a dozen communities across the Great Victorian and Gibson Deserts of central WA.

Chief executive Brett Cowling said the burden of chronic disease was “huge” and still growing in many remote areas.

But he said the problem was being tackled, and in some cases reversed, by the communities themselves

PICTURE ABOVE : Foodbank WA runs breakfast programs in more than 400 schools across the state, providing shelf-stable food and working with communities to make positive health behaviour changes.

WOULD you pay about $9 for six mushrooms  at your  supermarket in Perth? Or a similar amount for a piece of broccoli?

Probably not – but this is what people living in some of the most remote parts of WA are being asked to fork out for fresh produce.

The cost of fruit and vegetables in some of the state’s indigenous communities can be as much as three to four times that of supermarkets in Perth.

It is a cited as one of the reasons for the high rate of chronic health problems, including obesity, diabetes and renal failure, in Aboriginal communities.

As Published NEWS LTD

FACTS

Aboriginal people and diabetes

– Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have the fourth highest rate of type 2 diabetes in the world.

– It is estimated 10-30 per cent of Indigenous Australians may have the condition, but many are undiagnosed.

– Rates are between three and five times higher compared to non-Indigenous people in all age groups over 25 years.

– 39 per cent of the Aboriginal population over the age of 55 has diabetes.

– Deaths from diabetes were seven times more common for Indigenous people than for non-Indigenous people between 2006 and 2010.

– Hospitalisations for kidney complications among Indigenous people are 29 times higher than for other Australians.

Source: Diabetes WA

University of South Australia researcher Kerin O’Dea wants nutritious food to be subsidised and for doctors in remote areas to prescribe food like medicines.

“I feel strongly that we should as a nation have some kind of way of giving people in remote parts ccess to fresh food at capital city supermarket prices. It wouldn’t cost us much in relative terms,” she said.

“We give a huge diesel fuel rebate to mining companies and yet we don’t invest in the health of people, particularly children.”

She advocates a junk food tax to reduce the cost of fresh food and encouraging more locally produced food.

The idea of subsidising fresh fruit and vegetables was supported by Winthrop Professor Jill Milroy of the Poche Centre for indigenous Health at the University of Western Australia.

“Getting good, healthy food is really important and it needs to be addressed. It probably has to be subsidies because there is a lot of cost factors in getting food up there,” she said.

Department of Health nutrition policy adviser Dr Christina Pollard said the cost of healthy food was up to 29 per cent higher in rural areas compared to capital cities.

Welfare recipients also need to spend 50 per cent of their disposable income to achieve a healthy diet compared with 15 per cent nationally, the author of the Department’s Food Access and Cost Survey said.

“To get the food there, to keep it fresh and of good quality costs a lot more,” the adjunct researcher at Curtin University said.

“Food in general is more expensive, but healthy food is disproportionately expensive, particularly things like fruit and vegetables which need to be transported under refrigeration and don’t have a long shelf life.”

The Ngaanyatjarra Health Service provides health care to 2300 people living in a dozen communities across the Great Victorian and Gibson Deserts of central WA.

Chief executive Brett Cowling said the burden of chronic disease was “huge” and still growing in many remote areas.

But he said the problem was being tackled, and in some cases reversed, by the communities themselves.

At community-owned stores the price of fresh food is being kept low by not applying transport costs and in some areas full-strength soft drinks have been pulled from the shelves.

“Subsidies are  being discussed, and are an option, but I have seen the same results through good community governance and where the community have worked towards that outcome themselves,” he said.

“That always has to be best possible solution.”

Outback Stores was established six years ago to ensure food security in remote communities and today manages 10 community-owned shops in Western Australia.

Chief executive Steve Moore said by keeping the cost of fresh food low consumption of fruit and vegetables was up 13 per cent compared to last year.

The sale of water bottles has also more than doubled since the firm did a deal with Coca-Cola Amatil to sell 600ml bottles of its Mount Franklin water for $1.

“I don’t believe a subsidy or a tax will solve the problem,” he said. “We are making ground, but it’s small steps. It’s time and education  that  will make the difference.

“People are more aware of what they should and shouldn’t consume. Restricting products has never worked because people will just travel to get it.”

Foodbank WA runs breakfast programs in more than 400 schools across the state, providing shelf-stable food and working with communities to make positive health behaviour changes.

As well as getting around the high costs by supplying frozen and tinned produce, Foodbank encourages residents of remote communities to use bushtucker.

“Traditional methods are important and it’s important culturally to keep those going,” Stephanie Godrich, Foodbank WA regional strategy co-ordinator, said.

“We need to acknowledge that Aboriginal people have a lot to offer us.”

What is in a 600ml bottle of cola?

65.4 grams of sugar – The equivilant of 16 teaspoons

1044 kilojoules (100 per cent of energy comes from sugar)

How much sugar is in your favourite drink?

600ml Cola

– 16 teaspoons of sugar

600ml Iced Coffee Chill

– 14 teaspoons of sugar

600ml Orange juice

– 16 teaspoons of sugar

600ml Choc Chill

– 13 teaspoons of sugar

600ml Powerade

– 11 teaspoons of sugar

375ml Cola

– 10 teaspoons of sugar

350ml Apple juice

– Nine teaspoons of sugar

375ml Lemonade

– Eight teaspoons of sugar

500ml Lemon Ice Tea

– Eight teaspoons of sugar

250ml Red Bull

– Seven teaspoons of sugar

300ml V8 Juice

– Six teaspoons of sugar

500ml Vitamin Water

– Five teaspoons of sugar

300ml fresh cow’s milk

– Four teaspoons of sugar

Source: Livelighter.com.au