“A little bit to spare on food” food security challenges affecting refugee populations during early resettlement in Australia: settlement service provider perspectives

Resettlement of people living as refugees in high-income countries is highly complex. Myriad interlocked issues challenge those resettling. Food insecurity is one such challenge. In Australia, settlement service providers are privy to the food security challenges faced by refugees. Using a subjective realism perspective this qualitative, descriptive study explored food security challenges being presented to providers by their refugee clients. Through one-on-one interviews with settlement service workers (n = 14), four of whom had lived experience as a refugee, four themes were identified: chronicle, cost of living, community, and culture. Chronicle, that is the pathway to resettlement, impacted food security by determining nutritional status on arrival, food security perceptions, and literacy levels. Cost of living challenges included the high cost of housing restricting food budgets, money being sent overseas, large households, and challenges regarding food budgeting in a new food culture. Community issues included housing located away from social capital and food-related amenities, such as public transport, and unfamiliar cooking and food environments. Culture determinants included cultural mores which impacted health and food literacy, restricted cultural food access, and food knowledge transmission increasing the risk of misinformation. Results indicate that providers perceive cost of living to be the most pervasive food security issue and culture may uniquely influence food security issues related to a persons' settlement chronicle and resettlement community. This unique coalescence of chronicle, culture, and community may inform the way different refugee cultures interact with the new food environment and influence the food security issues they face.