Food insecurity is rising across Geelong, with new research showing one in ten residents have run out of food at one point, and were not able to afford more.
Give Where You Live Foundation has released its latest Food for Thought survey, which also found 14 per cent of locals have gone through food insecurity.
More than 70 per cent of organsations have noticed an increase in demand for food support.
And 58 per cent also reported increasing numbers of new groups seeking help, including working families and first-time service users.
Geelong Foodshare is one of those organisations noticing an increase in people using their social supermarkets.
CEO Andrew Schauble said people go through agencies to use vouchers at the supermarkets in North Geelong and the CBD.
“Once they get the voucher, they’re actually able to come and shop and do whatever they want,” he said.
“It’s on a point system, so they work with that.”
Mr Schauble said there has been a rise in people reaching out for help in regional areas, compared to the metropolitan areas.
The survey found one of the biggest barriers for people accessing support was stigma and shame, followed by a lack of awareness of services that are available.
