Food Security

Overview

Food security is an urgent issue in the climate change debate, encompassing both social equity, and human rights aspects therein. Rising food costs reflect the beginning of drastic impacts on the food chain brought on climate change, drought, and peak oil. Collectively, we need to ensure that land use planning decisions, shopping, transport and other local amenities do not affect our ability to access healthy food, and to make healthy food choices on a lifelong basis without resort to community services and/or emergency foods. 

Strategic Plan

The VLGA's work on Food Security is informed by the Strategic Plan and the aim is to respond to the emerging issues and strengthen the ability of local governments to improve local area food security. This includes leadership, good governance, and community connections in the context of planning and place linked to population health and well-being.

Current Activity

The focus of current activity is a local government training program for introducing an area food security survey and the progression of the outcomes through integrated development of council strategies and activities to support improvement in local food security. Interested stakeholders who would like more information are encouraged to contact the VLGA below.

Food Security in Victoria: Research to Practice

On May 18 2011 the VLGA and VicHealth co-hosted a forum Food Security in Victoria: Research to Practice which was attended by 80 workers from local government, state government, not for profit and the private sector. The day included a variety of presentations which as the title of the forum suggests included exciting new  research, current useful tools and practice examples. The day concluded with a presentation which demonstrated how the information presented during the day was relevant when local governments use the VicHealth Food For All 10 ways to act and the launch of the Food For All Evaluation Report. Included below are links to the presentations. For further information we encourage you to contact the speakers or alternatively the VLGA who will continue advocate and deliver projects around food security.

1. Flyer
2. What is Food Security?: Leah Galvin, VLGA
3. Victorian Food Supply Scenarios: Kirsten Larsen, VEIL
4. Reducing food waste and maximising resources to support local community food programs: Russell Shields, SecondBite
5. Port Produce - A local solution targeted at vulnerable communities: Ruth Cuttler, Bellarine Community Health
6. How much does it cost to eat well in Victoria? - the healthy food access basket: Dr Claire Palermo, Monash University
7. Food Sensitive Planning and Urban Design: Rachel Carlisle and Kirsty Morieson, National Health Foundation
8. Food Alliance - a briefing: Kathy McConell, Deakin University
9. Municipal Food Security Scanning Tool: Dr Beverley Wood, Public Health Nutritionist
10. Food for All - 10 ways to act: Leah Galvin, VLGA
11. Food for All Evaluation Report Launch

Food security: an opportunity to link climate change and sustainability

VLGA has amassed knowledge, skills and capacity to work on a range of complimentary local issues including the following:

1. Advocacy: working with communities, local, state, and federal governments.
2. Climate change:  Local governments addressing the social and equity impacts of climate change) (Liveable & Just).
3. Food Security: Working with local governments to identify barriers to local food security, develop strategies and work towards improvement in whole of population food security.
4. Building Communities: A leadership journey in environmental sustainability.
5. Thinking transport:  Development and maintenance of the web resource hub.  Training and collaboration between Non-Government Organisations, State and Local Governments.

Current VLGA food security work

1.   Municipal Food Security Scanning Project

The VLGA was funded by the Department of Human Services (Housing and Community Building Neighbourhood Renewal Program) and the Department of Health (Public Health Unit) to trial a rapid assessment survey to help local governments and communities in Neighbourhood Renewal (NR) sites to identify the municipal food security dimensions and opportunities in the geographic area studied.  Dr Beverley Wood was the Project Officer.

The target sites were the City of Casey (Doveton NR), City of Greater Geelong (Corio Norlane NR), City of Hume (Broadmeadows NR), City of Greater Shepparton (Parkside Estate NR), and the City of Wyndham (Heathdale NR).

A number of practical tools were trialled, including Municipal Food Security Scanning Workbook, Resource Manual and Training Program.  

As well as trialling these tools, the VLGA also built the capacity of participating local governments to address food security dimensions and opportunities in their local areas.

The Final Report can now be accessed here - Municipal Food Security Scanning Report 2010.  VLGA has several requests for the training program already, and it can begin immediately providing it can be self-funded by participating organisations or can obtain external funding resources.

2.   Department of Health: North and West Metropolitan Health Region Food Security
      Population Framework Stakeholder Consultations

The Public Health Unit of the Department of Health’s (DoH) North and West Metropolitan Health Region commissioned the VLGA to undertake this project.  Dr Beverley Wood was the Project Officer.

The purpose of this stakeholder consultation was to generate information and capacity that would contribute to development of a food security population health planning framework by the Public Health Unit of the North and West Metropolitan Region (NWMR).  The consultation addressed food security across 14 local government areas in the NWMR.

This framework will deliver good governance and other inter-sectoral strategies that embed local food and water security policies, and result in improved population health and well-being in the longer term.   

The consultation had several key objectives:
1. To consult key stakeholders whose work is likely to have a major impact on the effectiveness of the
    food security strategy development and its implementation.
2. To explore and document the nature and scope of key stakeholders’ contribution to the governance
    of local food security issues:
    a)  In general, and 
    b) In relation to the Department of Health NWMR.
3. To initiate ongoing stakeholder communications and the development of working relationships 
    with potential to enhance Public Health Unit of the NWMR planning and implementation of food
    security strategy.

The Report is being finalised with the Department of Health.

3.   VicHealth Food for All Information Dissemination Project

In August 2010 the VLGA was appointed to implement the dissemination project for the VicHealth funded Food for All Projects.  Leah Galvin was the Project Officer.

The projects which ran in nine local governments from 2005-2010 identified through its independent evaluation, ten key ways for local governments to act to address local barriers to food insecurity.

The Food for All project evaluation resulted in the development of 10 Information sheets and accompanying micro-movies which can viewed through the following link here.

The project delivered by VLGA involved a variety of strategies including:

• running workshops in partnership with local government and other community partners, including the Primary Care Partnerships
• establishing a “Community of Practice”, and
• providing hands on support and mentoring for local governments (including expert assistance on mapping local food security needs and identifying low cost and no cost ways to act immediately), particularly in regional and rural Victoria.

The first of the workshops was hosted by Central Goldfields Shire Council in Maryborough on 25 of November 2010 followed by workshops in Geelong, Gipplsand, the Grampians and Ringwood.  For more information about the project please contact the VLGA below.

4.   Integrating Land Use Planning and Community Food Security: a new agenda for government to deliver on sustainability, economic growth and social justice

The overall finding of the Project is that there is a growing understanding of the link between land use planning and food security. This connection is being made in a number of local governments – but the advocates are few.

It is estimated that up to 25% of our fresh food is being grown in and around our urban areas, but this is not being prioritised as a land use planning issue.  

The central purpose of this project is to build the capacity of Local Governments across Victoria to integrate community food security into land-use planning objectives.  Economic analysis has also been integral to the project. In 2007-08 the food sector represented $36.2billion, and in
Melbourne, $21.2billion, of Victoria’s economy.  The food industry employed 366,000 people in Victoria of which 210,000 were employed in Melbourne.  This cutting edge economic analysis undertaken as part of the project by SGS Economics provides an economic context for
governments to consider in policy development.    

One of the first steps for state governments in addressing community food security is to establish a clear accord with local governments, which will identify and establish the respective roles and responsibilities and funding initiatives between the two levels.  This is one of the critical
recommendations contained within this report.

See full report HERE.

5. Western Region Food Access profiles Project

The Western Region Food Access Profiles Project aims to contribute to existing food security knowledge and support food security interventions in the western metropolitan region by developing an evidence-based Food Access  Profile for each Local Government Area (Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong, Melton, Moonee Valley, Wyndham).

The profiles were developed by members of the Food Security Network (FSN).

For more information please visit: www.healthwest.org.au.

6. Future planning

In the Municipal Food Security Scanning Project (see 1.  above), VLGA recommended that available and complimentary Victorian Food Security Programs and Projects be considered for the development of Victorian Public Health policy on food security for all at the local government level:

a)  Scanning and monitoring:
•    The Project Municipal Food Security Dimensions and Opportunities.  Municipal Food
     Security Scanning (VLGA, 2010)

b)  Planning and intervention:
•    The five-year VicHealth Food for All Program in its entirety (VicHealth, 2005 - 2010),
     Food for All Dissemination Project conducted by VLGA
•    Other initiatives being promulgated by other Organisations at the Local Government level
      which target food security for all

Food Security Network

The VLGA Food Security Network (FSN) supports councils and other key stakeholders to protect local food security by fostering local providers of food, and improving equitable access to quality, fresh food. A key communication channel for the network is the FSN Discussion Forum which is a great source of useful information. If you would like more direct participation with the Discussion see the Food Security Network page to join. For additional sources of information on the topic see the Food Security Library.

For more information browse and search Food Security in the VLGA Library.

Contact

Policy Team
T: +61 3 9349 7999
E: Send Email