As fuel prices hit record prices, the cost of food is following. With living costs becoming out of reach for many Tasmanians, charities are filling the void - and the bill is stacking up.
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Pensioner Gaylene Atkins watches every cent. But the money does not go as far as it used to.
"Every week you go [to the supermarket] there's been 10 or 20 cents added to nearly every item you buy," she said.
Ms Atkins is one of many relying upon Starting Point Neighbourhood House, a charity providing food support and other services from Ravenswood.
"I can't afford veggies, but I can because I can get them from here," she said.
"That's why this place is so important."
Starting Point Neighbourhood House manager Nettie Burr said the service had experienced increased demand since COVID-19 payments halted last year, and with the cost of living now so high, demand was escalating.
But it was more than feeding mouths that concerned Ms Burr, with the charity bearing the brunt of increasing food prices.
"We can't put our prices up because then they become unaffordable," she said.
"Fortunately, we have some buffer ... but it's not sustainable. It won't last forever."
Ms Burr said the charity was working hard to ensure food justice for all, but increasing living costs were making it challenging.
"How are you meant to look for a job or go to school if you're not eating right?"
"We're just making it harder and harder for people."
Not alone
The situation at Neighbourhood House is far from unique, with charities throughout the state echoing the same sentiment.
Launceston Benevolent Society chief executive Rodney Spinks said it was not just people on welfare reaching out, with pensioners and people on low incomes also seeking support.
"I don't think we've seen the worst of it yet," he said.
"It doesn't take a lot of change to put people over the edge, it can only take 10 or 20 bucks a week, and this can do it.
"It's going to cause heartache for a lot of people and we're going to see more people struggle, because we know that they were only just surviving on that borderline."
The Benevolent Society operates off food donations from the community and a food bank, and also purchases its own groceries.
Mr Spinks said the last bill was higher than usual.
"It won't impact our ability to service people because we'll just fund that from reserves. It just means that our bottom line will be affected at the end of the year," he said.
St Vincent de Paul youth and community manager for Northern Tasmania Liz Bowerman said Vinnies Van had seen more people needing assistance, particularly young people.
Like Neighbourhood House, Vinnies Van receives donations from Loaves and Fishes.
But the society purchases the rest of the van's food products.
"Despite generous donations from the community ... to keep the level of service up that we're currently needing, we will need to seek additional funding and donations, and that's due to the rise in the cost of the retail items that we currently provide," she said.
A flow on effect
Further upstream, Loaves and Fishes Tasmania, an emergency food provider, has also felt the pinch, with the list of agencies wanting delivery growing.
Community Partnerships Manager Paul O'Rourke said although donations had not halted, the provider was affected by food prices.
He said fuel prices were placing a further strain, now costing the provider $4,000 a month more to deliver state-wide.
"This week, we reluctantly made the decision to cut back on delivery, so it's now affecting the amount of food that we're delivering because we just can't afford the fuel to get it to the east and west coasts," he said.
"It's a bit of a catch-22. With higher prices people want more food, but it costs us more to buy and deliver."
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Mr O'Rourke said the provider would still continue to service the areas, but not on a weekly basis.
A state government spokesperson said the government would continue working with community service partners to ensure services were getting to where they were needed.
They said emergency support for Tasmanians was already available through the Family Assistance Program, provided through The Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul, Anglicare, and City Mission.
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