News

Foodbank SA and Riverland primary students today (on May 22) received a delivery of locally grown citrus as part of a State-wide campaign to deliver two tonnes of South Australian citrus to school children this winter.

The campaign kicked off on May 12 when Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Hon Tim Whetstone MP, officially launched the SA Citrus season at the South Australian Produce Market, followed by a delivery of fruit to students at Pooraka primary school. A further nine primary schools received deliveries with more than 350kgs of fruit going to northern metropolitan schools in that week.

The fruit donation this week has come to the Riverland providing much needed support to Foodbank SA’s Education Program which currently supports more than 400 South Australian schools.

Market Fresh SA’s Pick a Local Pick SA! Campaign team visited the Riverland to collect the donation of locally grown Venus Citrus directly from the grower in Loxton. The 20 boxes of oranges to be distributed to Berri Primary school and the Berri Foodbank SA warehouse to be used in their school breakfast program.

“We’re so excited about the taste and flavour of the SA new season citrus – the whole family will love them” said Pick a Local, Pick SA! Campaign Manager Penny Reidy. “The generous donation from the South Australian growers will give an energy boost for kids and are a great addition to a lunchbox for school or work.”

“A great way for the community to support our SA citrus growers is through the simple act of purchasing a kilogram of oranges when they can this season” said Reidy.

Foodbank SA’s CEO, Greg Pattinson, said “As the largest provider of food relief for school based program, a key area of Foodbank SA’s work is to source and acquire food items to support school breakfast programs across metropolitan Adelaide as well as regional and remote areas of South Australia. More than 25% of South Australian children experience food insecurity each year, so it is important we support School based programs to ensure no child in South Australia goes hungry.”

“We are so grateful for the support of the South Australian Produce Markets, Market Fresh SA and all of the Citrus growers in South Australia who donate to Foodbank SA. Last year alone citrus growers collectively donated more than 266,000 kg of Citrus to Foodbank SA. We were delighted to accept this delivery to support our School’s Breakfast Program in the Riverland.”

South Australian Produce Market CEO, Angelo Demasi, said “The SA Produce Market has a long history with Foodbank SA and we were delighted to support their regional program as part of our two-tonnes delivery of citrus campaign.”

Citrus SA CEO Mark Doecke Said “South Australian citrus is now available and in good supply and tasting great. All citrus fruits are a great source of Vitamin C and all the experts advise that regular intake of Vitamin C helps to keep your immune system strong and assist your body to fight off disease. Supply will be around our average this year and prices so far are very good. The 2020 citrus is set to be even better than 2019 for consumer as we have less wind blemish this year and slightly larger sizes due to a long hot growing season”