Free, fresh food – that’s what’s making these students smile!

Picture this. You’ve just gotten home to cook yourself a filling meal for dinner… only you’re living off a Uni student’s budget. What kind of ingredients spring to mind?

If 2-minute noodles and baked beans are what popped into your head, you’d be spot on. That’s the reality international students are facing across Australia, according to a recent study from Allianz Partners, as part of their State of Student Healthcare Report.

International students contribute a whopping $34 billion into our economy each year, and in return? The current cost of living crisis has meant that more than a third of international students in Australia can’t afford fresh fruit and veggies in their weekly shop.

Luckily, not all those students have to go hungry thanks to Allianz Partners, who have partnered with Foodbank Australia to help supply the fresh food and pantry staples students so urgently need.

Our first international student food market took place this July, with more markets to follow across Uni campuses throughout Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, offering students attending the markets the opportunity to “shop” for free fruit, veggies and pantry essentials.

Thanks to our friends at Allianz Partners, these markets have helped us fill the fridges and pantries of so many international students who would otherwise be going without, right across the country – meaning no more pot noodle dinners in these student’s futures, as far as the eye can see! 😊