Present an education program to help Brimbank residents make healthy & sustainable meals on a budget to reduce the economic barrier to healthy eating.
CITATION STYLE: VANCOUVER
UK SPELLING
Location context: Australia
Scenario: You are a graduate nutritionist who has been contracted by a Local Government to research the local food system. Your task is to present three realistic, evidence-based recommendations to Councillors at a Council Meeting based on the findings from your food system audit and highlight their importance for the Local Government Area (LGA).
This is the research you have to do before presenting to Councillors.
Chosen LGA: Brimbank city – a local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Australia.
The ONE recommendation I would like you to look into is:
Education program to help Brimbank residents make healthy & sustainable meals on a budget (shopping, cooking, dealing with food waste, etc) to reduce the economic barrier to healthy eating.
Research to answer the following questions in detail:
– What are the specific details of this recommendation? Where, when, how, for who, etc?
– Why this recommendation is an effective approach to strengthen the local food system?
– Evidence must be provided as to why this recommendation should be prioritised in Brimbank?
– Evidence as to why this recommendation is feasible in Brimbank?
– What changes need to occur within the LGA of Brimbank in order to make this recommendation a reality?
– Who’s responsible? What partners/stakeholders/organisations should be involved?
– When the actions need to take place? A timeframe for action?
To answer these questions, you should:
– research initiatives that have already been implemented in other local areas or countries and their results; you can identify ways similar initiatives could be implemented in Brimbank, how it’s going to work and what result we aim to achieve
– Research organisations, stakeholders that might be interested
– Research what’s the local food system in Brimbank like:
+ The location of healthy food and fresh produce outlets including green grocers, bakeries, butchers, supermarkets, delis;
+ Food distribution programs (e.g. fruit and veg box schemes, fresh food recovery programs, farmers’ markets, farmgates)
+ Accessibility to this food supply (public transport routes, disability access, community transport options, store opening hours, etc.)
+ Community services which may support a healthy and sustainable food system – e.g. public housing estates, community health centres, neighbourhood houses/community centres, emergency food relief services)
+ Any other community food or food sustainability initiatives that you research in your chosen area (e.g. community gardens, schools with edible gardens, food swaps, food hubs, permaculture groups, sustainability activities, programs and events, composting or food waste minimisation schemes etc.)
– Research the demographics of Brimbank that would benefit from this recommendation, ….
A bit of context of Brimbank (preliminary research I’ve done):
Brimbank has very low socioeconomic status (921). Only higher than Greater Dandenong & Central Goldfields in Victoria (according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016)
Food insecurity is a prevalent issue among Brimbank residents: In the metropolitan area of Brimbank, there were significantly higher proportions of residents deemed to be food insecure by four of the seven measures of food insecurity, compared with all Victorians.
Adults who live in the metropolitan local government areas of Brimbank were more likely to report that
– they were not always able to get a variety of healthy food. 16% compared to 10% of all Victorians.
– healthy food is expensive. 28% compared to 21% of all Victorians.
– they were not always able to get healthy food of a suitable quality. 23% VS 14% of all Victorians.
– inadequate and unreliable public transport was a barrier to accessing shops that sell healthy foods. 22% VS 6% of all Victorians.
(CHALLENGES TO HEALTHY EATING – FOOD INSECURITY IN VICTORIA Findings from the Victorian Population Health Survey 2014)
