The City of Casey says it is committed to improving food security in line with the council’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2021-2025.
The Health and Wellbeing Strategy seeks to ensure that all Casey’s residents have secure and dignified access to nutritious, affordable, and culturally appropriate food.
The council is currently seeking participants to paint a picture of food security in Casey as part of their Stage 2 survey.
In order to come up with the most effective actions to improve access to nutritious, affordable and culturally appropriate food for our community, the council is asking residents about their experiences and the changes they would like to see in their local area.
Information gathered in this survey will help inform council consultants on recommendations, and guide the council’s action on food security over the next five years.
The survey will takes around five minutes to complete.
The consultation period remains open until 12pm Friday 28 April 2023.
‘Dignified’ access means accessing food in socially acceptable ways that do not involve shame or stigma.
City of Casey have partnered with Sustain: The Australian Food Network to develop a Food Security Framework for Action, to guide both short-term and long-term actions for Council.
A City of Casey Community survey gathered information from Casey residents about the main enablers and barriers they experience in consuming nutritious, affordable, and culturally appropriate meals, as well as high-level priorities for action.
The survey received 159 responses.
Overwhelmingly, affordability is the main barrier residents face to healthy eating, followed by time constraints for food preparation.
Key priorities for actions included ways for residents to have access to quality food (e.g. farmers markets, community gardens, community transport), initiatives to reduce food waste, support for local food production, integration of food into neighbourhood planning and programs to improve food literacy.
Held in February, a stakeholder workshop brought together 30 people including council staff across 10 departments, front line service providers, community organisations and property developers.
Participants discussed the community survey findings, conducted an analysis of their role their organisation could play in food security, and devised priority short and longer-term actions to guide the development of the framework.
The short-term recommendations report details ten actions to be integrated across key Council strategies during 2023-’24.
Everyone who completes the survey are eligible for a chance to win one of two $100 Coles or Woolworths e-vouchers plus there’s two Myuna Farm family passes to be won.
