The Tasmania Project Cost of Living Survey (TTP8) was open between 21 September and 9 October 2022. It asked about how Tasmanians are coping with the increased costs of living and measured food insecurity using a validated survey tool. Food insecurity is when people or households struggle to put enough healthy food on the table every day because of limited money or other resources.
Previous publications have examined the various ways that the pandemic affected people's ability to get the food they want and need. In 2022, global conflict and natural disasters have resulted in supply chain disruptions and rapid inflation. This has increased cost of living pressures including for food. This is evident in the responses received to the survey.
This report finds that:
- One in two (51%) of Tasmanian households has experienced food insecurity over the previous month. This is nearly double the rate recorded in May 2021 (27%).
- 7% experienced marginal food security (anxiety over a shortage of food in the house), similar to the levels reported in 2021.
- 23% have low food security (reduced quality and variety of food eaten), double the levels reported in 2021.
- 20% have very low food security (regularly skipping meals and going hungry), nearly triple the levels reported in 2021.
See the full report (PDF 947KB) for detailed analysis, including which groups were most likely to be affected by food insecurity and what people were doing to cope.