Natalie had been caring for her aging mother for more than 10 years, prior to her moving into a caring aged care home. During these years, a familiar challenge for carers of elderly parents, was how do we find nutritious and tasty foods, that offered choice and flavours that my mother loved.

The challenges outlined by Natalie were:

• I could not find the variety of food that mum loved so I made it myself.

• There were not the options available wherever I looked to buy food and when I did buy something that might have been suitable, she never liked them

• I wish I had more time to spend with my mum instead of having to prepare the foods that she loved and needed.

I would have loved to have bought meals online but there was just not the offers out there that I needed.

Shireen had to care for her sick partner for more than 5 years, a period that required her to spend significant time to prepare the foods that her partner liked and needed to cope with the day to day issues associate with his illness.

Ezy Foods interviewed Shireen to understand how this period of her life could have been made easier had the family had access to better quality food and more readily available and what difference this would have made to the family.

(Ezy Foods)
Where did you buy food to address the needs of your partner?

(Shireen)
Finding the right foods that my partner liked and delivered the nutritional value he needed was not readily available, I had to make it myself. I often thought how better the quality of our life would have been had we had easier access and a range of foods that my partner liked; they just were not available.

(Ezy Foods)
What foods specifically did you find difficult to buy?

(Shireen)
Protein was exceedingly difficult and importantly, just the variety of foods because my partner still had likes and dislikes of food that we need to consider when preparing a meal for him. The variety and different choices are what I really needed.

(Ezy Foods)
Did you ever consider buying online?

(Shireen)
Very much so but the food choices available just were not appetizing enough or did not offer a range that could cater to the needs of my partner, but I would have?