Manningham City Council

The Manningham Food Security Plan 2016-2021 describes existing actions from relevant plans and strategies across the organisation, with local and catchment-wide research. It brings together the food security needs identified by the community, community organisations and businesses as well as models of best practice; strategically aligning these with Council activities.

Vision

Manningham’s food system vision is one that allows economic and physical access to locally sourced food for individuals and businesses. It also provides the capacity for readily obtained information for decision making, that can lead to healthy food choices. In doing so, it is envisioned that this will lead to an economic and environmental position that is sustainable.

Drivers

Manningham is affected by food insecurity in a similar way to many other local government areas throughout the state, albeit at lower levels. Irrespective of this, the common risk factors relating to economic access and physical access to food remained constant. Community members, community organisations and businesses alike expressed a desire for improved access to fresh fruit and vegetables that are both affordable and locally produced.

Priorities

The priorities set out from the Manningham City Council are:

1. Food education
2. Building the local food system
3. Community food and access
4. Partnership and engagement
5. Promotion, marketing and advocacy

Key Action Areas

1. Food Education
- Continue to deliver the Home Harvest program.
- Implement a VicHealth Community Activation project to investigate incorporating food security issues.
- Expand the nutritional health information supplied to food services clients to better inform their actions around healthy eating.
- Provide older residents with information promoting healthy eating through the Your Brain Matters program.
- Incorporate components of food education into recreation programming.
- Promote health programs that encourage healthy food choices.
- Manningham Arts Studio school holiday program to investigate incorporating food security issues.
- Encourage schools and preschools to promote the Health Achievement Program to support healthy food choices.
- Promote early education healthy eating promotions programs in early years services.
- Utilise where applicable, existing communication channels and forums.
- Utilise regular Councillor briefing sessions to facilitate the communication of education messages to the community.

2. Building the local food system
- Encourage existing Council licenced markets to promote local produce and affordable food.
- Continue regional approach with inner Eastern Councils to support food supply improvement opportunities.
- Support and encourage local food businesses to source local fresh produce through existing and emerging food hub networks that link to information about their role in the food system.
- Explore the use of local producers to supply and promote at Council events.
- Promote local food producers to the community through Council communication channels
- Promotion of local food producers at the point of sale.
- Ongoing “buy local” awareness campaigns to staff, residents and businesses including exposure of businesses that source local produce.
- Explore opportunities for food waste recycling in high density areas including activity centres and apartment buildings as well as promoting subsidised composting products available through Council.

3. Community Food and Access
- Encourage schools to apply for funding to deliver sustainable garden programs.
- Support the development of sustainable gardens in schools.
- Create a pop up garden as part of VicHealth’s Community Activation Program funding at MC2 (e.g. vertical garden and mobile apple trees) including exploration of a permanent community garden on the Civic Plaza.
- Explore new, and expanding existing, community gardens.
- Explore feasibility of a Council-administrated social media food sharing group to promote reduction of food wastage.
- Explore expanding the use of, and support for, the Manningham shared garden for a regular community harvest.
- Encourage existing community gardens (allotments) to share/donate produce to food banks.
- Facilitate and promote home harvest swaps in Bulleen as part of Live Well in Bulleen project.
- Investigate avenues for reducing food wastage in food delivery services utilising existing programs.
- Promotion to home based food businesses how they can influence food security.
- Encourage businesses active in community food activities through existing programs.
- Encourage developers to incorporate shared gardens in their apartment buildings.
- Provide information to the community regarding healthy food choices, seasonal eating and emergency relief through existing Council communication channels.
- Run a data capturing exercise to encourage all community food organisations to be listed on the Manningham Business Directory.
- Provide annual updates to the municipal maps of registered food businesses and the Victorian Healthy Food Basket surveys as a means to monitor the distribution of food businesses categories and affordability respectively.

4. Partnership and engagement
- As part of the Community Development Grants Program review, consider food security as a funding priority area.
- Increase exposure of businesses involved with emergency food relief programs.
- Encourage partnerships between businesses and emergency food relief organisations.
- Donate fresh produce from the Manningham shared garden to the Doncare food bank to support residents experiencing food insecurity.

5. Promotion, marketing and advocacy
- Promote food security issues, activities and projects through Council communication channels and in line with communication policy.
- Explore media opportunities through media releases and briefings to increase community exposure to food security issues and projects and to encourage greater community involvement.
- Utilise the Manningham Business website and Manningham Business eBulletins to raise awareness of the commercial benefits of food security initiatives.
- Provide support for advocacy on issues that impact food security.

Link to Strategy

https://www.manningham.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/uploads/Manningham%20City%20Council%20Food%20Security%20Plan%202016-2021.pdf