City of Greater Bendigo

15 Hopetoun Street, Bendigo VIC Australia 3552

@cityofgreaterbendigo @CityofGreaterBendigo @GreaterBendigo

Local government, community organisations, businesses and individuals all have responsibilities and a role to play in supporting improvements to local health and wellbeing. This can be through changes to policy, community action, cultural and individual behaviour change, and through improving our neighbourhoods and environment. Local governments are ideally placed to lead the development and implementation of local food system policies and actions that address community health and wellbeing through their work.

Greater Bendigo’s Food System Strategy 2020-2030

City of Greater Bendigo has led the development of Greater Bendigo’s first Food System Strategy 2020-2030. The Strategy utilises a collective impact framework, which is based on the knowledge that individual actions and efforts are limited, but when we work together towards a common aim, we maximise our impact. Over 30 organisations and groups have committed to either leading or supporting key actions listed within the 10-year Strategy Action Plan.

Draft Strategy Vision

Greater Bendigo’s food system is healthy, equitable and sustainable and supports the local economy, culture and health and wellbeing of our communities.

Draft Guiding Principles

A healthy food system that promotes the health of people and enhances the natural environment
An equitable food system that makes nutritious and culturally appropriate food accessible and affordable to everyone across our communities
A sustainable food system that strengthens our local economy and builds the capacity and resilience of our communities

Draft Objectives

Enable communities to access safe, affordable, nutritious and culturally appropriate food and drinks
Strengthen and support a sustainable local food economy that enables the growth, production and sale of healthy food locally
Support local food growing and producing, sourcing, cooking and sharing knowledge, skills and culture
Reduce and divert food waste from landfill

Draft Greater Bendigo’s Food System Strategy 2020-2030 (and Strategic Summary) can be viewed here.

UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy

In October 2019, Bendigo was designated a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy – the first in Australia. Our gastronomy story is about growing, sourcing, cooking and sharing food. It is about how our culture and heritage is represented and shared through what we eat and drink, the places we share meals, and the memories we make around food, family and community. The application to join the Network was made by and for our community, and designation is an honour shared by all across our region.

Bendigo’s application to join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the category of Gastronomy shared this amazing journey with our community and with the rest of the world, helping us work towards an inclusive, secure and resilient food culture for everyone. The designation recognises the creativity and uniqueness of our city and region, and our commitment to working with cities around the world for a sustainable future.

To find out more about the designation click here.

Greater Bendigo Food Hub

A Food Hub Feasibility Study was developed in 2015. Since that time, works to establish a food hub in the region have commenced including site investigations, development of a Business Plan and most recently commencement of concept designs.