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A photo of a crowded cafe offering meals at discounted prices highlights the severity of Australia's cost of living crisis as many Australians flock to the restaurant to eat.
Hare Krishna Food at the Crossroads of Life Vegan & Vegetarian Restaurant on Swanston Street in MelbourneCBD's has been providing low cost meals since it opened in 1983.
All-you-can-eat meals are offered twice a day, six days a week for $9.50. Students, pensioners and discount card holders receive discounts.
“Generations of college students rely on Crossways meals to fuel their learning: we hope you'll give us a call, whether you've returned to campus or are still learning from home,” the website reads.
“If you are a pensioner or concession card holder, just show your card to receive the discount. At Crossways you can relax.
“If you have fallen off the social safety net, you will find a place here.”
A photo of the busy restaurant was shared on Reddit on Wednesday, highlighting how the restaurant had saved the lives of many Australians during difficult financial times.
“Celebrating Gopals Hare Krishna charity on Swanston St: the only thing keeping me from starving on the streets of Melbourne,” the photo caption reads.
A cafe patron shared a photo of the packed Hare Krishna Food For Life's Crossways vegan and vegetarian restaurant on Swanston Street in Melbourne's central business district
A cafe patron claimed the restaurant “was the only thing that kept him from starving on the streets” because it provided cheap all-you-can-eat meals and free food to the homeless
Others agreed, saying that the inexpensive meals helped them get through difficult financial times, but they were also delicious.
“If you are hungry, they are not interested in your (religious) affiliation, eat some food friend. “Exceptional kindness considering the state of everything,” one person wrote.
“If you're making money, definitely come by and chip in a few more dollars than you asked for food, it's worth it and the extra dollars will help them put food on the table for people who can't really spare anything,” a second commented.
“The food there is just amazing. I dare you to find similarly priced meals that are a fraction of the taste and substance of this place,” added a third person.
A fourth added: “When I was a child, after my mom and dad divorced, my mom often took us here. We thought it was such a pleasure. Years later it was discovered that the only reason we went was because our mother couldn't afford to feed us for a few weeks.
The ruling came after Foodbank – the country's largest food charity – found that 3.7 million households in Australia experienced food insecurity.
Nearly half of those surveyed said they had cut back on purchases of fresh produce and protein to cope.
The organization's Victorian center was forced to activate an emergency food driver in August to restock shelves in the face of unprecedented demand and surging donations.
Foodbank Victoria chief executive David McNamara said working families increasingly needed support from the Foodbank.
“It's the middle class we all aspire to be feeling the impact,” he told the Herald Sun.
“Mums and dads work two jobs to put family first and put food on the table, and unfortunately they go to bed without food, they send their children to bed without food – and this is not our society, we are not who we think we are that we are.
