Queensland Drought Is Starving Our Children

I am sitting in my backyard, cuppa in hand, watching as my boys chase each other around on the grass.

It’s a beautiful day after a rainy night, the trees perky after their drink from Mother Nature and the grass is soft under foot.

Suddenly, as my phone buzzes in chime with a message, I am pulled back to reality at the thought of my friend up north, whose children spend their afternoons running through a haze of red dirt.

Her family own the cattle farm for which we can thank for our dinner tonight. They feed an average of 1100 people a year but don’t have enough money to put decent food on their own table and are now having to rely on handouts.

And that’s just the start of the terrifying reality of their life.

It is now being said that more than 80 per cent of Queensland is in drought.

Just think about that number.

Now think about who is suffering.

An article in the Courier Mail spoke about how doctors and charity workers have described helping children covered in boils and blisters because parents can’t afford to buy�fresh fruit and vegetables.

These children are showing the early stages of malnutrition “� a sight that used to be reserved for television ads seeking funding for children living in third-world countries such as Sudan and Ethiopia.

Not in our own backyard, surely?

The sad truth of it is that there are families starving because of the drought, with a whopping 41 shires desperately in need of rain throughout the State.

Farmers are having to hand-feed their cattle because there is no grass on the ground. The dehydrated bodies of the�cows�declared “too graphic” to be shown on the news at night.

I hear about mothers are sending their children off to school only to head home to work on the farm, having let go of all their staff because they cannot afford to pay them.

These women, covered from head to toe in red dust, then have enough courage to smile for their children, cook them food and tuck them into bed, shielding them from the unbearable financial pressure surrounding their home.

We must help these families; we cannot sit back and watch any longer. Children are starving for goodness sake.

Through a partnership with AgForce Queensland, I�was recently invited to explore the lifestyle of rural communities, and become a Friend of Ag for a day. While on a trip to Cloncurry, I realised more than ever before how significant the gap has become between cities and farming communities.

Support local farmers and producers whenever you can. Buy locally grown produce, drink locally harvested milk and participate in Australia’s agricultural industry. Those dollars send out huge thank yous and bring honour to our farmers. Surely, they will be more than grateful to harvest the best crop knowing that someone out there have recognised their important toiling.

Remember this next time you step inside a supermarket: every family needs a farmer. If we have no farmers, we have no food.

If you want to go one step further you can donate to Aussie Helpers.

Aussie Helpers fundraise to donate stockfeed and basic necessities to farming families around Australia, to keep farming families on the land.

Clare Whitfield Chief Editor

Clare Whitfield is the Editor of Stay at Home Mum and a recognised voice in practical home management for Australian families. Based in the northern suburbs of Sydney, she balances editorial leadership with life as a stay at home mum to two school age children. Her background in home economics and more than a decade of experience in recipe development, family budgeting, and household systems inform her work.

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