Bush tucker: scarce and pricey

by Peter LavellePublished 29/01/2007
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/health/thepulse/s1835345.htm

Oxygen is free. Water is so cheap it might as well be. Food is the other thing our bodies need – but only the odd vegie patch in the corner of the backyard is left to remind us that we once grew it as well for free. Not any more. The weekly bill amounts to a couple of hundred dollars a week for an average family.

Surprisingly, it's the foods that we used to grow ourselves that are now the most expensive. Food manufacturing processes are becoming so efficient that they're driving prices down – or at least containing them – while fresh food prices are rising above rises in the consumer price index.

There's one group of Australians particularly hard hit – those who live in remote areas.
To get an idea how much more they pay for food than city folk, Queensland researchers compared the price of a typical basket of food in several remote Queensland communities and compared them to the prices paid for the same food basket in major cities. The results were published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

They found Australian residents in very remote areas paid an average of about 30 per cent ($114) more each fortnight than people living in cities for this basic basket of food (which didn't contain anything fancy, basically things like bread and cereals; fruit, vegetables and legumes; meat and some dairy foods.)

Price differences were greater for healthy fresh food than for takeaway food, soft drinks and tobacco (which were closer in price to those in the the cities).

Over time, prices have been rising faster in rural areas than in the cities. Between 2001 and 2004, the cost of the basket in very remote areas increased by 18 per cent ($77.00).
On the whole, communities in remote areas of Australia are much poorer than in the cities. Many of them are Aboriginal communities, with high levels of unemployment and dependence on welfare.

These communities are caught in a pincer – food is more expensive, and they have less money to pay for it.

Another recent study of a remote Indigenous community in South Australia found that basic living costs took up to 85 per cent of family incomes, and of this, food was 35 per cent. In the cities, it's 20 per cent.

That is, if they can get the food at all! There were fewer choices of healthy foods than in city stores, the researchers found. There were deficiencies of many types of food we take for granted in the cities, especially wholemeal flour, wholemeal bread, fruit juice, bananas, rolled oats, fresh reduced-fat milk, and full-cream milk.

This means the diet of people living in these areas is much more likely to be a high calorie, high energy diet, of manufactured and processed foods full of fat and sugar.

Someone on this kind of diet is much more likely to get a range of chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart and kidney disease that someone on a nutritious diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables and grains.

Food comes at a cost

Why is food more expensive in remote areas? There are several reasons. Much of it is the economics of transporting food to remote regions and storing it. There's the petrol to be added add to the cost – fuel costs have risen dramatically in recent years. In some areas during the wet season, food has to be flown in. Then it has to be stored and refrigerated.

Food in remote areas is usually (though not always) sold from a single privately owned store. These stores don't have the economies of scale available to city businesses – customer numbers are small, so stores can't buy in bulk to reduce costs and get discounts from suppliers.

Some store managers are unscrupulous and charge exorbitant prices. At the very least they may take advantage of their monopoly position – they're the only store in the area and they can set the price.

To be fair to the store mangers, costs are high; customer numbers are small; wages to store employees have to be high to get people out there – if the store is to turn a profit it can't be run solely for the benefit of the community.

The problem is that the rest of Australia pays a price.

Quite apart from the misery these illnesses cause in Indigenous communities, the rest of Australia pays the cost in treating communities with chronic ill health.

Finding solutions

Still, there is progress being made in the last few years, say public health experts in an editorial accompanying the research findings.

Some communities have set up buying groups to allow stores to bulk-buy at wholesale prices.
Last year the Remote Indigenous Stores and Takeaways project (a federal government-funded project) published a guide called the Freight Improvement Tool Kit, which sets out ways to improve the perishable food transport to remote areas.

Improved recruiting and training of Indigenous people in retailing is helping to improve the efficiency of store operations.

There's been an extension of banking services in some comminutes helping minimise stores’ financial losses from unofficial loans.

And federal government funding of a scheme called Outback Store, in which the community is given financial incentives to manage the store along best practice guidelines for example recruit an experienced store manager, set a minimum range of groceries for sale, and be audited.

Diabetes poised to 'wipe out blacks'

Stephen Lunn
November 13, 2006
Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20746888-2702,00.html

AUSTRALIA'S Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population could be wiped out this century as European-style solutions to addressing diabetes -- exercise and diet -- fail to cut through in indigenous communities.
Diabetes expert Paul Zimmet has warned that type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes affected one in four indigenous adults and was increasingly being diagnosed in Aborigines as young as 10.
"Without urgent action there certainly is a real risk of a major wipe-out of indigenous communities, if not total extinction, within this century," Professor Zimmet said.
The foundation director of the International Diabetes Institute and academic at Monash University in Melbourne said indigenous life expectancy was "low and dropping".
"Diabetes is hitting them very hard, so the infections, amputations and kidney disease will just wreak more havoc. Unfortunately, looking for a solution inthe traditional European approach of eating healthy foods and exercising more regularly may not be the answer," he told The Australian yesterday.
Professor Zimmet will warn an international conference on indigenous diabetes in Melbourne today that the disease is spreading so fast through all sectors of society "it could bankrupt the world's health systems and cripple entire economies". He added: "Diabetes is the biggest epidemic in human history."
Turning the tide in Aboriginal communities would require a focus on keeping children diabetes-free, he said.
A spokeswoman for federal Health Minister Tony Abbott, who will open the conference, said: "Although health spending per indigenous person is 18per cent higher than health spending generally, on almost every indicator indigenous people's health outcomes are worse compared to non-indigenous people. Poor indigenous health has as much to do with social factors as inadequate facilities. There are no magic bullets here."
Professor Martin Silink, president-elect of the International Diabetes Federation and a pediatric endocrinologist at The Children's Hospital in Sydney, said Aboriginal communities needed to find a solution.
"The strategies we have to combat diabetes aren't working for us (non-Aboriginal people), and they definitely aren't working in indigenous areas. There is no way we can impose a solution," said Professor Silink, who will co-chair the conference.
The other chairman, former West Australian minister and Aboriginal diabetes sufferer Ernie Bridge, runs a non-medical diabetes prevention program for indigenous communities that focuses on getting in before diabetes can take hold.
"We deliberately target children, reinforcing messages on diet, nutrition and physical education in partnership with schools. And we are getting exciting results," Mr Bridge said.

Former Coles exec to head outback stores initiative

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1767239.htm

A former Coles executive has been chosen to head up a new company aimed at improving the quality of stores in the Australia's remote Indigenous communities.

Under the Federal Government's Outback Stores initiative, communities will have the option of handing their shops over to the new company.

John Kop will oversee the project, which it is hoped will improve the supply of fresh and nutritious food in remote areas.

He is discussing the plans with community representatives in Alice Springs today (17/10/2006.

Outback Stores chairman, Joseph Elu, says former supermarket executives sitting on the company's board are confident in Mr Kop's ability.

"They know John, they've seen his progress and they're very confident that he's got the right credentials and the right person for this job," Mr Elu said.

Metcash to supply outback stores

Metcash to supply outback stores
Source: http://www.igd.com/analysis/news/news_detail.asp?articleid=3116

5 September 2006
Australian retailer Metcash has signed an agreement with the Australian Government to supply 140 grocery stores in some of the country's most remote communities. The government will take control of the stores once the lease agreements for the sites expire, and will be supplied by Metcash's Campbells wholesaler division either through 5 or 10 year supply agreements. Metcash is set to generate an additional AUS$100m a year through the deal.

Media Release: Outback Stores to reveal high level board

http://www.iba.gov.au/files/MediaRelease_OutbackStoresBoard.pdf

First Nations Economic Opportunities Conference

See http://www.ibaconference.com.au/docs/tuesday/Australia-Ron_Morony.pdf

Improving the sustainability of community stores

The Hon Mal Brough MP Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous AffairsMinister Assisting the Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs

Budget 2006
Strengthening Indigenous Communities
Employment and Workplace Relations
Improving the sustainability of community stores

Source: http://www.atsia.gov.au/budget/budget06/Fact_sheets/factsheet10.aspx

Why is this important?
Community stores have been a matter of concern for government for a number of years. Issues of concern include financial management, governance, food stocking policies, poor infrastructure and the limited range of goods and services.

Community stores can play a vital role in improving the health standards of community members through the provision of quality food at an affordable price. Reducing the dependence of store income on high sugar or salt foods and drinks will also contribute to sustainable health improvements for the local communities.

A commercial management model for participating stores will ensure the ongoing viability and standard of participating community stores.

Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) will establish a subsidiary company, ‘Outback Stores’, which will provide a framework for group discount purchasing and better managerial, supply chain, food handling, nutrition and financial arrangements.

Participating stores will be expected to pay a fee in return for services provided by ‘Outback Stores’.

IBA and the ‘Outback Stores’ company will work closely with industry leaders in the grocery wholesale and retail industry and will draw on their expertise to deliver significant improvements in the services provided by community stores, including an expanded range of goods and services.

Who will benefit?
Individuals and families in outback Indigenous communities will be the primary beneficiaries, particularly in relation to an expanded range of goods and services and access to quality and affordable food.

Communities and individuals will also benefit to the extent that commercially operated community stores will facilitate

What funding is the Government committing to the initiative?
$48.0 million over four years (this includes capital investment in financial assets of $40.0 million).

What have we done in the past?
The Government, through various programmes, has provided substantial funding in the form of grants to community stores, including for building improvements and repairs after storm damage.

IBA has also provided loan facilities to some stores through its Business Development Programme. These loans have been assessed on a commercial basis and have been repaid or are being repaid.

When will the initiative conclude?
This funding will lapse on 30 June 2009.

Remote communities call for healthy food subsidy

Remote communities call for healthy food subsidy

The World Today - Friday, 25 August , 2006 12:46:00
Reporter: Iskhandar Razak
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1724538.htm

ELEANOR HALL: Community leaders in South Australia's remote north say food prices in the region have reached such exorbitant levels that they are threatening the health of a whole generation of children.

A health consultant to indigenous communities says some children are even turning to drugs to avoid hunger pains. In the Anangu Pitjantjatjarra Yankunytjatjara in South Australia's far north, fruit costs up to $3 a piece.

And community leaders say it's time healthy food was subsidised by the Government to prevent chronic health problems such as diabetes and drug abuse.

This report from Iskhandar Razak.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: Aboriginal elder Waniwa Lester sits at home surrounded by photos of her family. Their faces, a reminder of the problems young people of her country face.

WANIWA LESTER: Our people in the land is still hungry. One lady said, we hear this, I hear these little child crying, every morning just about. She said I went out one day and asked, why is she crying. And the mother said, no food, she's hungry.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: In the Anangu Pitjantjatjarra Yankunytjatjara region, known as the APY Lands, a single orange costs up to $2 a piece, compared to other regional centres where $2.75 buys a kilogram of fruit. And that's just the start. In any city supermarket, a kilo of mince costs about $13, and broccoli $4 a kilo.

But inner lands meat is $18 to $25 a kilo, and broccoli costs up to $3 just for a single floret. Mrs Lester says the high costs means people are eating more junk food, which is cheaper, and abusing drugs when they run out money.

John Tregenza is a consultant for the Nganampa Health Council, which helps to run eight stores in the area. He blames the high cost of food on a poor education. He can't find skilled locals to work in the stores. So he is constantly searching for staff, and that adds to his costs.

JOHN TREGENZA: Each store would be paying nearly a quarter of million dollars in wages every year. This has to go into the price of food. The next biggest cost is freight cost, freight particularly with fuel prices going up, there will be an increase in cost factor.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: Have the fuel prices affected the cost of items at outback stores?

JOHN TREGENZA: Well, freight companies have to run at a profit, and if fuel goes up, their freight costs will go up.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: Worse, Mr Tregenza says that people abuse petrol and alcohol to forget their hunger pains.

JOHN TREGENZA: Absolutely. In the Pitjantjatjarra Yankunytjatjara Lands there is a common phrase, May Weir days, that's the days when you don't have any food. And in most communities the vast majority of the people will be in this situation for at least three days a week. Because their income, through CDP and social security is not enough.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: The Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister, Mal Brough, says it's launching a $48 million project to help lower the cost of food, but Mr Brough denies the high price of basic food is linked to the region's substance abuse problems.

MAL BROUGH: A typical family of two adults and six children will be receiving just under a $1,000 a week in social welfare payments, quite often paying no and negligible rent. And as such that money could, for all intensive purposes could go on the two staples of food and clothing. And the reality is that much of it is being spent on things such as gambling, alcohol and drugs.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: The Federal and South Australian governments are building a drug rehabilitation centre in the APY Lands to tackle petrol sniffing in region, but it's years from being completed.

South Australian Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Jay Weatherill, says for the past year several initiatives have been running to reduce the cost of food.

JAY WEATHERILL: Well, I think we are in some communities beginning to see anecdotally some better results. There is no doubt though that there are pockets in the APY Lands where these issues are worse off than in other places.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: But for Mrs Lester says that's the same type of talk, denial and inaction she's experienced her whole life. She wants governments to subsidise food and set up shelters where people, particularly women, can find food for their children, and save the next generation away from drug abuse.

WANIWA LESTER: Our problem with the Government is, they don't want to know big problems. But if they could listen carefully and take it in they might do something.

There's a lot of things, you know, we hear, but you know, that this is going to start over, this is going to start, it's going to be good, but that takes a long time, you know. I always think these people must learn to listen.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: Are there safe places for children?

WANIWA LESTER: We have no safe places there. Only grandmothers and aunties looking out, we'd like to have a building so we could keep the little ones safe in one place.

ELEANOR HALL: And that's Aboriginal elder Waniwa Lester speaking to Iskhandar Razak.

APY Lands families 'hungry 3 days a week'

APY Lands families 'hungry 3 days a week'
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1716883.htm

Families are allegedly going without food for three days a week in the far north of South Australia because of the extreme cost of food in the area.

The Federal Government is spending $48 million to restructure outback stores to be more like Coles and Woolworths to lower the cost of food.

John Tregenza, a consultant for the Nganampa Health Council who helps manage eight stores in the Anangu Pitjantjatjarra Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, says many stores are already doing what they can to reduce costs.

He says people just are not given enough money to buy food in the first place.

"In the APY lands we call those days 'May Weir days'. It's the days when you don't have any food," he said.

"In most communities, the vast majority of people have those days at least three days a week."
Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough says a typical family of six children gets about $1,000 a week.

"The reality is that money is being spent on alcohol and drugs," he said.

Fruit can cost up to $3 a piece in the APY lands.

New Company To Offer Better Food And Business Opportunities To Indigenous Communities

Source:

New scheme launched for 'outback stores'

New scheme launched for 'outback stores'
Monday Aug 14 21:31 AEST

Source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=122200

The federal government has launched an ambitious scheme to overhaul outback stores servicing remote indigenous communities and make them commercially viable.

Under the voluntary system, food with high nutritional value will be prioritised.

The government is spending $48 million over four years to get the program, to be administered by Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) through a Board of Outback Stores, up and running.
The chairman of IBA, Joseph Elu, will head the board, which has met for the first time in Canberra.

'The aim was to make the community stores commercially viable, board member and former Coles executive Alan Williams said.

Should a community sign up to the scheme, the board would recruit an experienced store manager, set a minimum range of groceries for sale, provide mentoring, and visit the store regularly to ensure its standards are met.

"They will basically get the same sort of mechanisms and support that a Coles or Woolworths store manager gets in the city," Mr Williams told reporters.

"They will get mentoring, there will be staff training programs."

Nutrition also will be a priority.

"Every store should have fresh fruit and vegetables. Every store should have the basic range of groceries which do offer some healthy alternatives," he said.

After the shops are operating to a set standard, nutritionists will be brought in to work with the community to raise the profile of healthy food.

Mr Williams said the possibility of discounted wholesale goods would be canvassed down the track.

"We will start to look at how the stores buy and where we buy from, but right now the real priority has got to be to get the basics of the operations right first," he said.

Some outback stores will also be able to invest their profits in community programs.
"Once the store's making a profit, there will be a mechanism which some of that money will be retained to go back into reinvestment into the store so that the store's kept up to speed," Mr Williams said.

"There'll also be a mechanism where ... some of the dividends from that store can go back into the community to fund community activities."

Outback stores given the Coles and Woolies treatment

Outback stores given the Coles and Woolies treatment
Patricia Karvelas August 15, 2006

Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20131265-2702,00.html

STORES in outback indigenous communities will be run like Coles and Woolworths, as part of a national retailing network with profit their main object and corruption targeted.

The federal Government is spending $48 million to set up a network of up to 1000 franchise-style outlets across remote Australia under the banner of the incorporated Outback Stores.
The network - directed by a bevy of the country's retailing elite - will punish stores that breach their contractual obligations by engaging in corruption.

Not only are the days of pilfering out the back door numbered, there also will be an all-out attack on high-sugar and high-salt foods and drinks.

The new stores eventually aim to hire nutritionists to improve health in remote communities, which will benefit from cheaper prices because of bulk buying. Metcash is the first wholesaler to sign up to the group.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough consulted Woolworths chief executive Roger Corbett and Mr Corbett's Coles counterpart, John Fletcher, to get the project up and running.

Mr Brough said yesterday Woolworths and Coles had no commercial interest in the company, but were offering "invaluable support and technical assistance" because they wanted to be good corporate citizens.

The board of Outback Stores, unveiled yesterday, includes Alan Williams, former chief operating officer of the Coles Food and Liquor Group, and Avner Nahmani, general manager of corporate marketing at Woolworths.

Alastair King, CEO of the Arnhem Land Progress Association, which operates 11 remote stores in the Northern Territory, and Ian Myers, deputy general manager at Indigenous Business Australia, are also directors.

Mr Williams said there were too many cases of stores being run corruptly.

"There are many examples where there is more product going out the back door than is going out the front door and we've got to stop that," he said.

"The second stage is we will start working with nutritionists who will work with the stores and with the community health workers and local schools to start raising the nutritional profile."
The board's priority will be to consider a commercial management model to improve governance, finance and stock management systems, supply chain inconsistencies and the availability of more healthy foods.

WANTED: CEO OUTBACK STORES

CEO OUTBACK STORES
Closing date: 03 August 2006

Region: Northern Territory
Location: Darwin
Organisation: Indigenous Business Australia [IBA]
Salary: By Negotiation

CEO OUTBACK STORES

Outback Stores aspires to be recognised as a national provider of quality managerial services to Indigenous community stores.

Selection Criteria

The CEO of Outback Stores is expected to possess the following skills and attributes:

Proven experience at the higher managerial level in the grocery industry with a track record of successfully managing a substantial commercial operation;
Strong commitment to the role, function and needs of Outback Stores in understanding and meeting the needs of stakeholders in relation to building a network of sustainable community stores offering affordable and healthy food choices;
Understanding of the commercial aspects associated with delivering a comprehensive and transparent management service to community stores;
Strong business acumen;
Outcomes and results focussed both for the short term and long term;
Strong ability to prioritise conflicting demands and limited resources;
Promotional skills and the ability to grow the profile of Outback Stores;
Strong industry networking skills;
Strong strategic and conceptual skills;
A desire to work cross culturally, with a commitment to Indigenous employment and training.

Contact Details
Name: Ian Meyers
Phone: (02) 6121 2603
Mobile: N/A
FAX: (02) 4465 2305
Email: ian.meyers@iba.gov.au
WWW: http://www.iba.gov.au

MEDIA RELEASE: JUNK FOOD IS CHEAPER THAN FRESH FRUIT AND VEGIES IN MANY ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES

1 August 2006

Sister Joan Healy of the Josephite Leaders' Social Action Group, has just returned from a visit to the Anangu Pitjanjatjara Yakunytjatjara Lands in South Australia.
She said that after listening to many mothers and grandmothers, concerned about their children, she was surprised and distressed to find that the most frequently mentioned need was affordable, nourishing food.
Aboriginal women were angry about comments made by Health Minister Tony Abbott, reported in the Australian last week, where he said that while he would not rule out subsidising the cost of fresh food, it would happen only if communities committed to changing their diet, eating less and exercising.
The women said their children need more to eat, not less. But they need the right kind of food.
"Junk food is cheaper than fresh fruit and vegies in many communities," Sr Healy said.
"Chicken and chips cost $3 a serve, but broccoli is $3 for a single floret and apples and oranges are up to $2 each. Fruit and vegetables are priced by the piece.
"Poor quality mince is $18 a kilo and stewing steak is around $25 a kilo. Baby formula is beyond the budget of most families, but breast feeding mothers need nourishing food," Sr Healy said.
"It's not a matter of not knowing the facts.
"These women know what is best for their children. They don't want to feed their children 'rubbish food'. But when their children are hungry they feed them whatever they can afford.
"But good things are happening in the APY Lands.
"The women talked about the music shed where young people gather to play music and have a feed. One woman said the young ones used to break school windows, but now when they can play music and dance and have a feed there is much less trouble.
"The band shed closes at 9.00 o'clock and the women say there is much less petrol sniffing. They say 'people not hungry, not bored, that's the answer'.
Sr Healy said a regular supply of affordable, good quality, fresh fruit and vegetables is a much cheaper alternative to kidney dialysis and the other health complications caused by inadequate diet.


CONTACT:
Joan Healy, 02 8912 4872 / 0417 681 145
Judith Tokley, Public Affairs, Catholic Social Services Australia 0408 824 306

Push on to boost outback nutrition

Stephen McMahon
The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
July 29, 2006

IMPROVED nutritional standards in isolated Aboriginal communities is the goal of a $48 million initiative of the country's biggest supermarket groups and the Federal Government.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough is driving the project to open new supermarkets stocking fresh food in an effort to increase life expectancy of Aborigines in the outback. Woolworths, Coles and Metcash have thrown their support behind the Government plan and the formation of a separate business entity to help establish, manage and supply the stores.

A study from the Medical Journal of Australia, reported in The Age in May, revealed that increasing chronic illnesses, some stemming from low nutritional levels, have resulted in Aboriginal life expectancy in the Northern Territory being almost 20 years below the national average. The life expectancy of Aborigines in the NT is below that of non-Aborigines by 19 years for women and almost 17 years for men and that gap is continuing to widen.

Between 1981 and 2000, the mortality rates for Aboriginal people were two to three times higher than for non-Aborigines. Non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer, now account for almost 80 per cent of the gap.

The opening of supermarkets stocking fresh produce in these isolated communities is seen as one step in lifting nutritional and life-expectancy levels.

Senior executives from the supermarket groups have met the minister to discuss the opening and running of these stores.

At this stage, there is no details about the number of stores or whether or not they will sell alcohol.

Former Coles managing director Alan Williams has been appointed to establish a strategy group that will make recommendations to the minister about establishing a Government-funded entity to provide improved stores in communities that are interested.

In the 2006 budget, the Federal Government committed to spend $48 million over four years on establishing community stores, including a $40 million capital investment.

A spokesman for Mr Brough said the Government was finalising the scheme's details and the minister would be making a full announcement on the matter within a few weeks.


Source:http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/push-on-to-boost-outback-nutrition/2006/07/28/1153816384513.html#

Good (fresh) news on food for remote Indigenous communities

Media Release
25 June 2006
Good (fresh) news on food for remote Indigenous communities

Transport operators working in remote areas, community representatives and health professionals agreed this week to work together to improve the delivery of fresh food to Indigenous stores in remote areas. They agreed to increase national effort to check the security of each step in the cold chain system that stretches from where fresh food is sourced to where it is finally bought and consumed. This will entail both the adoption of some new technologies and work practices, and a commitment to ongoing collaboration between the community, private transport and government sectors in remote areas.

Seventy people, including representatives from of some of Australia's most remote areas, met in Adelaide to consider urgent and practical action on these matters. "It was fantastic to have so many people from remote areas. This clearly shows the seriousness of the situation and the strong desire to improve things," said Gordon Gregory, of the National Rural Health Alliance. "There are already some good models in place, including those covering a number of Indigenous stores in a region. This gives better buying power and more sensible logistical arrangements."

"However there are also regions in which the situation can clearly be improved - where the delivery of fresh food is jeopardised by seasonal or human issues, and where in some cases delivery is not regular enough to support good health."

"This is obviously a big health issue for the communities concerned and the meeting was attended by a number of health officials and nutritionists," Mr Gregory said. "From the Forum there will be resource materials to help people in remote communities work through the economic and logistical challenges they face. The Forum has also resulted in a new network of technical services that can support the cold chain to remote areas. Much of the information from the Forum will be available soon on CD ROM and the web, thanks to NetSpot Communications. The work of the Forum will also continue through follow-up visits to communities that have sought assistance," Mr Gregory said.

The Forum's work dovetails with the ongoing activity of the Remote Indigenous Stores and Takeaway (RIST) project, which involves five State/Territory and the Australian Government. Support for the Forum was provided by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing and the event was organised for RIST by the NRHA. The NRHA will be following up the work by promoting policy and program ideas related to safe delivery of fresh foods to remote communities.

IBA Presentation re Outback Stores Darwin June 8th 2006

Indigenous Business Australia
Post Budget Briefings Presentation
Darwin June 8th 2006

COMMUNITY STORES
BACKGROUND
“Fix community stores and improve the quality of food…”
- Minister Vanstone was advised by the Rural Nurses Association that this was the single biggest contribution the Government could make to improving the health of Indigenous communities

The problem:
- Commercial viability
- Governance
- Fraud
- Food Stocking Policies
- Margins

IBA definition of Community Stores:
“one that is community owned and located on Aboriginal land, or one that is owned by a Government agency and operated specifically for an Aboriginal community”

The solution:
IBA has been asked by the Government to take a leading role in surveying current stores and from that data to formulate possible business models

IBA has also been asked to develop and implement Outback Stores

Two Phase Survey Process
1. Conduct a survey of existing community stores
2. Develop a management model for the future

Phase One –Objective
- To undertake a comprehensive community stores mapping exercise across Australia for the purpose of informing the development of a national community stores framework
- Project scope –research, assessment, identification
- Project Management –funding, management, field survey
- Survey Schedule
- Survey Delivery

Phase Two
- Development of a Business Model –undertaken in conjunction with Phase 1

COMMUNITY STORES POLICY MEASURE
- $48.1 million to provide a commercial management model for better governance, financial and stock management, supply chain, hygiene, nutrition and staff employment conditions
- $8.1 million to establish a company to be called Outback Stores

COMMUNITY STORES IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY
- Development of a banner model
- Developing a range of industry contacts to assist in refining the proposal and continuing discussions with organisations that can assist IBA should the programme proceed
- Development of administrative solution

Banner Model –where a store joins a larger group to:
- take advantage of reduced purchase price through bulk discounting
- have access to generic products
- Management model, including financial management

OUTBACK STORES
- IBA would establish Outback Stores
- A line of credit would be established between IBA and Outback Stores for on-lending to upgrade store facilities where necessary
- Shares would initially be owned by IBA and progressively be sold to groups participating in Outback Stores

Outback Stores would develop a business model based on survey data including key elements of:
- Maximising efficiency through group purchasing and distribution
- Standardise POS technology
- Establish employment standards
- Limit or ban the use of CDEP

Outback Stores would assist communities by developing:
- Minimum infrastructure standards for safe food handling and storage
- Additional business modules (Australia Post, fuel outlets)
- Loans structure to pay for infrastructure and service improvement

The community benefits include:
- A more efficient and reliable store
- A better range of products including healthy, fresh food
- Better pricing of products
- Receiving rent based on turn over
- The option to purchase shares in Outback Stores

What does the community need to do?
- Place store in a separate legal entity
- Issue an appropriate lease over the land/store to that entity
- Empower that entity to negotiate membership to Outback Stores

What will the entity need to do?
- Agree to abide by the rules of Outback Stores
- Agree that Outback Stores has the right to fire underperforming store managers
- Agree that Outback Stores has the right to directly manage the store, in a worst case scenario

Where will the money go?
The store will receive the initial gross profit and make distributions as follows:
- Pay the community rent for leasing the store
- Pay Outback Stores a membership fee based on turn over (usually in the order of 5%)
- Set aside funds in a sinking fund for future replacements and upgrades
- Meet any infrastructure loan repayments
- After retaining adequate working capital, distribute balance to shareholders (community)

WHAT NEXT?
- Continued collaboration with ICC’s, other agencies, relevant state and territory governments and Indigenous organisations

Healthy Indigenous Stores in USA and Canada

Read more at THIS link

IBA Information Sheet re Outback Stores proposal

Innovative approach to Indigenous community stores, Outback Stores Commonwealth Budget 2006-07 Questions and Answers

Source: HERE

What are the intended outcomes of Outback Stores?

• To improve the commercial viability of community stores through improved management, supply chain logistics and infrastructure;
• A broader and better range of goods and services including healthy food which will contribute to improved health outcomes;
• Consistency in the delivery, supply, quality and range of products in line with established standards, including health and hygiene;
• Increased employment opportunities;
• Business and financial skills training;
• A more efficient and reliable store;
• Better pricing of products.

What are the key components of the Outback Stores model and what will be the general method of delivery?

• Collaboration with the private sector to provide a framework for better governance, financial and stock management, supply chain, staff employment conditions, hygiene and nutrition.

In which communities is IBA proposing to introduce Outback Stores?

• Community stores that are seeking assistance to improve their operation can join the Outback Stores group.

What employment opportunities are expected to be derived for communities participating in Outback Stores?

• Communities and individuals will benefit to the extent that a commercially operated community store will facilitate employment together with business and financial skills training;
• Increasing the range of business and products within stores will also lead to additional employment opportunities;
• Employment conditions will be consistent with established standards.

What does the Government know about the state of existing community stores?

• The Government is aware that many existing community stores are in a poor condition, are poorly managed and do not always supply the grocery items that are necessary for good health;
• A survey of the 170 existing community stores is being undertaken to provide more detailed information about each store.

Will the commercial framework enable Outback Stores to take over the management of participating stores in the event that conditions do not improve?

• Where participating community stores breach their contractual conditions Outback Stores will be able to step in to redress any shortcomings.

What are the conditions for the provision of loan funds to a community store?

• Loans will be available to upgrade or replace store infrastructure to enable greater security, improved food handling and increase the range of stock where necessary. Loans will only be made to community stores that participate in the arrangement.

Will Indigenous communities currently operating a community store be forced to participate?

• No. Participation is voluntary.

Will loans be available to stores that do not participate in the arrangement?

• No. Only participants will have access to loans and associated benefits.

How is IBA intending to develop and implement Outback Stores?

• IBA will work on the details of the arrangement in collaboration with experts in the wholesale and retail grocery sector eg Woolworths, Coles and Metcash. IBA will draw on their experience and expertise during the development and implementation phases of Outback Stores.

When will Outback Stores be implemented?

• IBA expects that all arrangements will be in place around July this year and that Outback Stores will begin the task of marketing its services to community stores during the second half of 2006.

How many stores does IBA expect will participate in the arrangement?

• The number of participants is unknown at this early stage.

What will be the conditions of participation?

• These are still under consideration. However, in return for a range of services including assistance with the supply chain, store management and finance, participating stores will have to adhere to a number of conditions that include corporate governance, employment regulations, payment for goods and services, and, dietary and hygiene policies.

Will participating stores be required to pay a fee for the services provided by Outback Stores and if so how will the fee be set?

• Participating stores will be required to pay a fee for service. Although the exact nature of that fee is yet to be determined, it will be based on individual store turnover.

Will customers be allowed to “book up” their payments?

• We are currently working with bodies such as ASIC, ACCC, NT Consumer Affairs that are developing guidelines in relation to ‘book up’.

What are the benefits to communities participating in the “Outback Stores” arrangement?

• The benefits will be numerous and include a broader range of fresh and affordable goods leading to improved health outcomes, improved services and increased employment and training.

Real food, less junk for Aboriginal shops - BUDGET 2006

Patricia Karvelas (The Australian)


FRESH fruit and vegetables will replace junk food in a network of chain-style stores to be rolled out in remote Aboriginal communities.

Up to 1000 franchise-style "Outback" stores will take over from the existing stores because the Howard Government believes the outlets in remote communities are selling unhealthy food.

The Government will spend $48 million to establish the network of community stores, which will be able to get group discounts, unlike existing standalone outlets, and will be run with better managerial, supply chain, food-handling, nutritional and financial skills.

Indigenous Business Australia chairman Joseph Elu said the Government had asked the organisation to establish the new chain of stores, which will be set up with advice from retail giant Woolworths.

He said people living in remote communities would benefit through business and financial skills training and increased employment opportunities.

"Community stores are crucial to the economic, social and health interests of remote indigenous communities," Mr Elu said.

"Outback stores will actively seek to improve the overall wellbeing of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders by helping to build commercially viable businesses."

Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough said the Government would try to change the land tenure arrangements so a private operator would eventually be able to own a store.

The Government wants to cut the dependence of store income on high-sugar or high-salt foods and drinks, and improve health in the communities.

Mr Brough said Woolworths would be involved in giving guidance and training on how to set up healthy stores. "Woolworths are on board in a big way as a partner in assisting in the Outback shops," he said.

"Until we do land ownership, the people who own it are the Aboriginal corporation. Ultimately we could do lease-back, and potentially individuals can start their own business so you don't just have the one store to choose from."

He said the Government wanted the shops to provide better quality at lower costs, be better managed, and bring on staff. "Nutritional value will improve an enormous amount," he said. "We'll be using the expertise and management Woolworths have. They are being good corporate citizens."

He said the scheme would use "the clout of a Woolworths to actually provide this rather than having a poor little isolated store that has none of those other capacities".

Mr Brough said the best way to improve Aboriginal health was to get healthy food into remote communities. "All they have is chico rolls, hot chips, with minimal nutritional value," he said.

"They currently have soft drinks by the crateload and chips by the crateload."

On employment, the Government will provide $126.5 million over four years for changes to get indigenous people living in urban and regional areas into job-search help through the mainstream privatised Job Network.

The new regime will apply only to new entrants to Community Development Employment Projects, the biggest employer of indigenous people since it was established in 1977, in regional and metropolitan areas. Those in remote areas will be given up to two years.

Under CDEP, a community creates a common fund from combined unemployment benefits, which pays the jobless to do community work and activities.

IBA Media Release: Innovative approach to Indigenous Community Stores

10th May 2006

The Chairman of Indigenous Business Australia (IBA), Mr Joseph Elu, has welcomed the Australian Government Budget announcement committing $48.1 million to an innovative model for community stores in Indigenous communities.

As a result of this funding, IBA will establish a new company called Outback Stores that will provide a commercial management model for better governance, financial and stock management, supply chain, hygiene, nutrition and staff employment conditions for participating community stores.

Read the media release in full HERE

$48 million over four years for the establishment of a network of remote community stores to improve Indigenous access to quality and affordable food

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1629780.htm

Govt commits $3.3b in Indigenous funding
By Katie Franklin, ABC News Online
Tuesday, May 9, 2006. 7:42pm (AEST)

The 2006-07 Budget provides $3.3 billion in funding for Indigenous programs, including $488 million for key areas such as health, education, housing, governance and leadership.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough says the package centres on "a significant investment in people by strengthening governance and management of Indigenous organisations and developing local leadership.

The Budget initiatives include $48 million over four years for the establishment of a network of remote community stores to improve Indigenous access to, among other things, quality and affordable food.

Read the full report by clicking HERE

Dodgy Store Managers

In remote areas of Australia, rumours abound about non-Aboriginal people with questionable ethics employed to manage the community store who exploit the unregulated environment to bleed community stores dry, who leave the community in the dead of night with a suitcase full of $100 notes, pay cash for a block of units on the Gold Coast and then move on to another community hundreds of kilometres away to do the same thing all over again, leaving the first community to pay off their debts by doubling the food prices in the store. To my knowledge no one has ever been prosecuted or convicted either because the rumours are not true, or because ultimately store managers are employees of the incorporated body set up to govern the store, which is legally and financially responsible for what happens.

Do you have any stories about dodgy store managers? If so, post your story in the comments section, or directly to WatchDingo

Fruit and Vegetable Promotion Websites of Interest

You may find the following website useful. Please recommend other useful sites in the comments

Promoting fruit and vegetable consumption around the world

Food Security Articles Of Interest

The articles linked below may be of use to readers while researching the issues surrounding food security of Aboriginal people in remote Australia.

If you would like to recommend other worthwhile links kindly do so as a comment to this posting.

Practical measures that improve human rights – towards health equity for Aboriginal children. Sophie Couzos

Good health is the right of all Australians. How does the state of Aboriginal health care relate to that of non-Indigenous Australians? Why is this so and how can this situation be addressed so that there is parity across all segments of Australian society?

Australia’s Indigenous ill–health and national social policy implications: Indigenous state of health, socio–economic contexts and recent policy developments. Angelika März

Food North: Food for health in north Australia - part 1
Food North: Food for health in north Australia - part 2

Food Affordability Calculator

Are you interested in calculating the cost of eating a healthy diet in your part of remote Australia? If so, read on.

WA, Qld and the NT conduct Market Basket surveys fairly regularly, the NT on an annual basis since 1998. However, there are many areas of remote Australia where the cost of eating a healthy diet is not measured or monitored.

The good news is that you don't have to rely on a government body to calculate this for you, remote communities can do this for themselves.

The Food Alliance for Remote Australia has developed a calculator based on the NT Market Basket Survey. The NT survey has the simplest list of foods to meet the nutrition and energy needs for a family of 6 people for 14 days.

To find out more click HERE to go to the website. If you need any assistance with the process simply email WatchDingo

Health and well-being in remote Australia - NRHA Public Seminar, Canberra

The National Rural Health Alliance convened a Public Seminar on Tuesday, 1 November 2005 Canberra Business Centre, Regatta Point, Canberra. Several presenters addressed the seminar on a wide range of topics relating to health issues in Remote Australia, including food security in remote Australia.

Roy Price, a Remote Public Health Nutritionist with 16 years of professional experience in Central Australia, presented a paper entitled "Food security in remote Australia".

View Roy's presentation slideshow:

Listen to Roy's presentation:

Read the transcript of Roy's paper:

Food security for Indigenous people in remote areas

The above information paper from the national Rural Health Alliance is available HERE

The paper highlights the issues of food security for those most impoverished of Australians: Indigenous people who live in remote Australia.

Food security is defined in its most basic form as ‘access by all people at all times to the food needed for a healthy life. Achieving food security means ensuring that sufficient food is available, that supplies are relatively stable and those in need of food can obtain it’.

The health of remote Indigenous people is making some gains, but there are is a high incidence of obesity, hypertension, raised cholesterol levels, cardio-vascular disease, diabetes and renal failure.v These rates increase as one travels further into remote Australia. The issues of obesity, diabetes, high blood fats and hypertension are acute in the Torres Strait Islands.

Poor nutrition early on in life translates into poor health later and higher levels of chronic disease. The reasons for this poor health are many and include poor living conditions, racism related to dispossession and colonisation, poverty and poor nutrition.

For most people who live in remote communities the major source of food is the community store, where it is particularly expensive and the quality of what is sold is often poor. The issues concerning food supply relate to the cost of the food itself, governance of the store, transport of the food from the source to the community, health hardware in the home for storage and preparation of the food, and the income required to buy the food in the first place.

The paper describes some ‘food basket surveys’ which look at the cost of the average amount of food needed to feed a family for a week. These surveys occur at regular intervals around remote Australia.viii Generally food is much more expensive in remote areas. The paper goes on to describe some projects underway that have the potential to improve the situation. These include nutrition programs in schools, buying services across several communities, strategies to improve management of stores, employment, training, fair trading, food safety and hygiene, pricing and transport.

Several government initiatives are briefly discussed, such as the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition Strategy and Action Plan, 2000-2010 (NATSINSAP), the Remote and Indigenous Stores and Takeaways (RIST) Project, the Stores Charter and the FoodNorth Project.

Community Store Blitz

In a recent conversation with another nutritionist, we were trying to come up with all the crazy ideas we could to find a solution facing remote aboriginal community stores. One of the wildest ideas we had was a TV show called "community Store Blitz" - much like "Backyard Blitz". Thinks about it - a TV crew come into the store, show what its like now, call in the experts to fix it up - paint the place, new shelving, fridges, computer system, training for store managers and workers, and so on. At the end of the show the store would be all "fixed up" and the crew could move onto the next store.

No doubt there are issues (such as permission from the community) to be thought about before doing something like this but it would get the issues on TV, would embarass governments, and might even lead to some action.

I'll leave this one with you to think about...........

A little fast food, a big risk to health

The article below was published in the Weekend Australian.

In our neck of the woods (Central Australia), we would accept that if there is a takeaway operating in a remote community, we can generally expect that most people will purchase at least one meal a day from the outlet. Given the foods available in most remote community takeaways its no wonder we see such high rates of diabetes.

A little fast food, a big risk to health
========================================

Adam Cresswell, Health Editor, Weekend Australian 1/1/2004 Page 4.

Just two or three visits a week to a fast-food outlet may be enough to put you under threat of obesity and diabetes.

Despite claims by the fast food industry that its products can form part of a healthy diet, participants in a major US trial showed signs of significant weight gains by eating at fast-food diners more than twice a week. The study, published today in the British medical journal The Lancet, covered more than 3000 young people for 15 years from 1985, to investigate the link between fast-food consumption, weight gain, and insulin resistance.

The researchers found fast-food consumption had "strong associations" with weight gain and insulin resistance indicating that fast food increased the risk of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

By comparison with the average weight gain among trial participants who ate fast food less than once a week, those who made frequent visits to fast-food outlets - defined as more than two a week - gained an extra 4.5kg and doubled their increase in insulin resistance.

Insulin is a hormone secreted in the pancreas that regulates blood-sugar levels. Insulin resistance leads to elevated blood sugar - the cause of Type 2 or adult-onset diabetes, Australia's sixth-biggest cause of death.

Study co-author David. Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Boston's Children's Hospital in Massachusetts, said the study showed that the more fast food a person ate, the greater the health risk.

"We can't estimate any minimal safe level," Dr Ludwig said.

"Fast food as it is now marketed is inherently unhealthful. Fast food doesn't have any precise definition, but it's a bit like pornography - you know it when you see it.

"As to whether a pizza restaurant is fast food or not, you could debate - but everyone knows a bacon double cheeseburger with fries and Coke at McDonald's is a direct hit."

Like the US, Australia is facing an obesity epidemic. A study in the Medical Journal of Australia in 2003 found 48.2 per cent of men and 29.9 per cent of women were over-weight, while another 19.3 per cent of men and 22.2 per cent of women were obese.

WatchDingo

Community stores aren’t doomed to failure

ABDIssue 5 - 24 Apr 2002 PERTH:

Source: http://www.nit.com.au//Business/story.aspx?id=365

A West Australian businessman who has been running community stores since the 1980s believes he has the answer to a problem which has plagued remote communities for decades.
Brian Fitzpatrick is the Managing Director of Aboriginal Business Development P/L, a Perth-based company which contracts as a service provider to nine community stores throughout Western Australia.
His company manages the community stores after securing an agreement with the owners of the store, generally the local community council.In the 14 years Mr Fitzpatrick and his company have been involved in community store management, no client has ever gone out of business.
“We’ve been doing this since 1988 and in that time no store under our management has ever failed,” Mr Fitzpatrick said.“That’s not to say we don’t have our share of problems from time-to-time, we do.“But there’s absolutely no doubt our system works.”
The strength of Mr Fitzpatrick’s consultancy is multi-pronged, he says.Community stores enjoy greater purchasing power by being involved in a buying group of sorts. That brings lower prices to the consumers through cheaper goods and reduced freight costs.And Mr Fitzpatrick says his stores are strictly financially controlled with each site featuring state-of-the-art financial tracking systems.
“This gives us greater control over money going into and coming out of the store and it makes our ordering a lot more accurate and efficient,” he said.
It also has the added benefit of providing an accurate source of information on the sorts of foods Indigenous communities are consuming, with obvious benefits to local health service providers.What Mr Fitzpatrick can’t understand is why - given the latest media storm over ‘book-up’ and recent comments by South Australian ATSIC Commissioner Brian Butler that some communities were being bled dry - he has never been consulted.
“I agree with him (Butler). I’ve always indicated that we know what the problems are,” Mr Fitzpatrick said.“The problems are articulated consistently over the years - everybody knows what the bloody problems are. The issue is how in the hell do we fix it?
“If the ABD store management model is shown to be best practise ATSIC should make it their business to find out how in the hell it works.
“They should be strong advocates of a similar model because they’re supposed to embrace best practice.”But Mr Fitzpatrick is most critical of the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission, which recently launched a ‘best practice model’ for community stores in Alice Springs.
Mr Fitzpatrick said the ACCC model was a motherhood statement with no relevance for remote communities.“I’ve obviously read with some interest what [Professor] Allan Fels (the head of the ACCC) and his agency has put forward.“It’s rhetoric... it’s absolutely unhelpful in the situations that we practically face on the ground.“It’s like me saying, “The thing you should do is put all of the money that you have made for the week in the safe, and then bank it.“Sounds great, but how in hell do you put it into practice. How do you make sure you’ve got an effective system in place?”
Mr Fitzpatrick was also critical of the ACCC’s fear of book up, claiming that if run properly it was an honest and much-needed system in remote communities.“Another ACCC motherhood statement is you’ve got to manage your book down. I know that.
“Another thing they said was don’t give your keycard and pin number to anybody.
“We don’t accept that. In our stores there are a lot of pensioners who want their keycards and pin held in the store safely because invariably their cards aren’t safe at home - they’re stolen.
“We never, ever put in the pin numbers but we encourage it as a way of assisting people to budget their income because then they’re more likely to use a good proportion of their income on food.
“If you’re a manager and doing manual book down you’re the God, you decide. It’s open to abuse. No question.
“But we haven’t got a black book where we write in the amount a person has booked down. When a person buys good out of store we make them sign the till slip for the book down for that day.
“All the till slips that have been signed by the person are put in a tin for that month. If a person says look, I did not book down last week, or I did not book down in the first week in month we just go through the tin.
“We can not only find the slip they signed, but tell them exactly what they purchased that week.”
Mr Fitzpatrick said despite all the inquiries and investigations into the problems confronting community stores, no government department has ever asked for ABD’s input into effective store management.
“We’re open for people to come and investigate us and our system - we have no problems with that at all.“We’re happy for people to go through our books provided the Aboriginal community which owns the store has no objections.
“This is the model that works and we know it works.“There’s been no attempt over all of these years to call us in and give us a forum.
“They can pull us to bits if they want to, but give us the forum and give us the opportunity of talking to them about our stores management program and the successes within that program.
“ATSIC are just too shy to make that call.”

The food supply in remote areas of Australia

This blog provides a forum for those people concerned about the quality, variety, availability, affordability and utilisation of healthy food in remote areas of Australia.

The availability of a wide variety of fresh, healthy foods at affordabile prices is fundamental to the health and wellbeing of residents in remote Australia, many of whom have low incomes.

Ill health caused by poor nutrition due to the lack of access to and utilisation of a healthy food supply has enormous cost implications to health systems and ultimately Australian taxpayers. However, costal dwelling Australians are oblivious to the serious food supply issues confronting Australians living in remote areas.

It is time that all Australian taxpayers were made aware of the issues so that they can join forces and lobby for improvements to the food supply out bush.

WatchDingo