Ed’s Letter, Your Say

There are a few things that truly divide our nation: AFL versus NRL; pots vs schooners; milk bars vs dairies; the pronunciation of “cicada”; potato cakes vs potato fritters or…come now, potato scallops are just not a thing! It’s the same with the humble barbecued snag. Do you call it a sausage sandwich? A sausage in bread? Or a sausage sizzle? Freud dubbed these gulfs “narcissisms of minor differences” – a possible explanation for neighbouring communities engaging in mutual barbs over small differences. Thankfully, no matter where you live, or how you vote, come election day we’ll all be united under the one moniker: the democracy sausage.

While we unwrap the historical origins of the political banger in this edition, we also report on a real social fracture: food insecurity. More than 1.2 million children went hungry in Australia last year, according to Foodbank’s annual hunger report. While one in six adults experienced severe food insecurity, meaning they were forced to cut down or skip meals, with more than half going a whole day without food at least once a week. That’s more than four million Australians who were unable to put food on the table at some point.

While food relief organisations were overwhelmed at the height of the COVID crisis, demand for their services was rising even before the pandemic. Last year, The Guardian reports, OzHarvest provided 36 million meals and SecondBite 41 million meals, while Foodbank distributed 46 million kilos of food, providing groceries to a million people every month. Now, the rising cost of living means food banks remain vital, as Anastasia Safioleas discovered when she visited Foodbank.

“It’s really important to be able to get food from Foodbank,” Lisa, a food bus customer, told her. “I’m on JobSeeker but I’m also studying, so after rent and school and with prices going up, I don’t have much money left. I get a bit of food this way.”

The Big Issue is an independent, not-for-profit magazine sold on the streets around Australia. It was created as a social enterprise 25 years ago to provide both a voice and a work opportunity for people experiencing homelessness and disadvantage. Your purchase of this magazine has directly benefited the person who sold it to you. Big Issue vendors buy each copy for $4.50 and sell it to you for $9, keeping the profits. But The Big Issue is more than a magazine.

• Our Women’s Subscription Enterprise provides employment and training for women through the sale of magazine subscriptions as well as social procurement work. • The Community Street Soccer Program promotes social inclusion and good health at weekly soccer games at 23 locations around the country. • The Vendor Support Fund will offset the cost price of products for vendors, allowing them to earn a larger margin on their own street sales. • The Big Issue Education workshops provide school, tertiary and corporate groups with insights into homelessness and disadvantage, and provide work opportunities for people experiencing marginalisation.

I would like to let everyone know how grateful we are to George, who sells The Big Issue in Station Street, Fairfield (Melbourne). My son lost his wallet while running between a few shops. There wasn’t any hope that it would be returned, let alone exactly intact as it was when it was lost. An expensive wallet with a significant amount of cash for an event, and all the usual cards – it was impossible to believe that it would be seen again. But thankfully George happened to be the one who found it and returned it. How great is that? Please, next time you see him, say hi if you can! And if you are in a position to purchase a magazine, I know first-hand it couldn’t be from a more deserving individual.

LEANNE MELBOURNE I VIC

Hi Lieu, thanks for sending me my Big Issue subscription. I like reading the book reviews because I’m a writer. I hope you and your family are keeping well in the rainy weather.

MARGARET KATOOMBA I NSW

Leanne wins a copy of Eloise Head’s new cookbook Baking It Easy. You can check out her recipe for Apple Crumble Mug Cake on page 40. We’d also love to hear your thoughts, feedback and suggestions: