Putting healthy food on local plates

A collective of well-known organisations, groups and individuals have united to make healthy, locally grown food available to communities in Frankston City and on the Mornington Peninsula.

The Community Plate was launched in 2019 and includes Peninsula Health, Mornington Peninsula Shire, Frankston City Council, Frankston Mornington Peninsula Primary Care Partnership, the Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services and Monash University.

The collective hopes that by improving the availability and affordability of healthy, local food, they can reverse or balance the over representation of convenience food outlets, and associated high consumption of these foods which researchers have linked to overweight and obesity.

Chair of the Community Plate Leadership Group, Rodney Mackintosh said the collective had worked with a wide range of stakeholders to develop its new Community Aspiration: We are all connected to food that is local, healthy and abundant.

“We spent a lot of time to ensure that we got our Community Aspiration right. We spoke with many people and developed an aspiration for The Community Plate that will progress work that genuinely represents what our region wants and needs,” Mr Mackintosh said.

In 2018, the Australian Institute of health and welfare estimated that 60 per cent of residents in Melbourne’s South East were overweight or obese.

Councillor Sue Baker said Council was proud to be part of The Community Plate initiative and was confident it would bring positive change to the region.

“Being overweight increases your chances of developing serious health problems and often healthy local foods are too expensive or difficult to find.

“Our group wants to change that so everyone can access better food for themselves and their families,” Cr Baker said.

For more information visit: communityplate.org.au