Community Food and Farming Survey

Healthy Food Systems is a Loddon Mallee Public Health Unit (LMPHU) priority for 2023-2025. LMPHU has engaged Sustain: The Australian Food Network to contribute to capacity building in four LGAs: Buloke, Gannawarra, Swan Hill/Robinvale and Campaspe. We are seeking community input to understand the food system needs and priorities of the community, for the purpose of enabling LGAs to respond to these needs.

The “food system” is everything that happens from farm to fork: the network of people, processes and interactions involved in growing, processing, distribution, sale and disposal of food on-farm, in retailing and at home. The diverse elements and activities of a food system impact health, environmental and economic outcomes within communities.

“Local food systems” refer to the aspects of the food system that occur within a geographical region. For example, locally produced or processed food. It also includes services, programs, initiatives or infrastructure that impact how people interact with, access or consume food locally. Examples include community gardens, community kitchens, farmers markets, food swaps, gardening groups or education programs.

We are inviting anyone 18 or older who lives, works, volunteers or studies in Buloke, Gannawarra and Swan Hill/Robinvale to participate in this community food and farming survey. If you are a farmer, we will also ask you a few questions about your experiences and the challenges you face in the region. 

Participation in this survey is voluntary and you may withdraw from the survey at any time. Any data you provide will remain confidential and cannot be used to identify you. For almost all questions in the survey, you can choose not to answer by simply selecting the “Prefer not to answer” option. 

The survey should take you around 15 minutes to complete, and you can complete it from any kind of device. 

By sharing your valuable experiences with us, you will help inform the LMPHU about the challenges, opportunities, and priorities in the food system. A summary of the survey results will be shared with community and other stakeholder in the Shire as part of a capacity building webinar series hosted by Sustain.

There will also be a prize draw with four hampers featuring local produce to the value of $50. If you would like to be included in this draw, please leave your details at the end of the survey.

If you would like further information regarding any aspect of this project or the survey itself, please contact Nick Rose nick.rose@sustain.org.au

Please get in touch if you would like to be involved in the workshops for this project by emailing info@sustain.org.au