Case Studies
The Northern Suburbs Community Food Network

Design Feature

Type of project
Local Government Initiative
State
Western Australia
Location
Urban
The Northern Suburbs Community Food Network (NSCFN) operated within the City of Wanneroo in Perth, Western Australia (WA) from 2015 to 2017. This Network acted as a central point to connect individuals and organisations passionate about their community and healthy eating. The broader focus of the Network was to improve food security among the City’s residents.
A community focus on food
The NSCFN was initiated in late 2015, and expanded its format from an email-based network, to a group that participated in a variety of food-related workshops and projects. All projects were aligned with both the City of Wanneroo’s focus areas and the North Metropolitan Public Health Unit’s Health Priorities, through an informal food security action plan. Examples of the Network in action included:
  • Connecting community members with food literacy programs delivered by local agencies,
  • Supporting community gardens,
  • Education on small-scale back yard food growing and fresh food relief for the community.

The NSCFN typically operated in a responsive manner to community needs, however, four workshops were scheduled annually focusing on requested topics.
The NSCFN was created in response to community and agency demand for connection with nutrition activities and projects happening in the local area. Originally, emails were sent throughout existing networks and a list of approximately 40 people was compiled. The list included individuals, government and non-government agencies. The initial intent of the NSCFN was to provide a platform for members to network and share learnings.

Following this, the City of Wanneroo took on a support role rather than a coordination role, in response to their question “How do we build capacity and support the community to lead projects?”. The City promoted and encouraged active civic involvement through the NSCFN, by providing members with maximum ownership over the direction of on-the-ground activities.
As such, two of the City’s ‘Place Strengthening’ service unit teams - the ‘Healthy and Inclusive Communities’ team, which had a strategic focus and the ‘Connected and Resilient Communities’ team, which had an operational focus – were involved. These teams worked in synergy to support and build capacity among community members to lead projects within their community.

People interested in initiating a project were connected with the City’s ‘Wanna get involved’ project and were provided with the opportunity to meet with a City officer, discuss their project idea and be guided through a Community Project Plan template.
An example was community interest in establishing an edible garden at a local community centre. The City’s teams met with community members to determine project objectives, develop a project plan and undertake the operational requirements such as Occupational Safety and Health checks. Other strategies to develop community-led projects included the City utilising the opportunity of hosting quarterly workshops. These workshops were used to recruit volunteers and connect interested network members to local groups such as the Men’s Shed.
Project team
  • City of Wanneroo Health Promotion Officer (Healthy and Inclusive Communities team)
  • City of Wanneroo Place Development Facilitators and Place Activation Officers (Connected and Resilient Communities team)
  • Community members
  • Volunteers

Project cost
The cost of individual projects depended on the project itself and who was managing it. The City of Wanneroo committed up to the following for individual projects:
  • $3000 for workshops
  • $2000 for facilitators
  • $600 for catering
  • $400 for miscellaneous resources/giveaways


Health value

All activities and projects were aligned with the objectives and strategies outlined in the South Metropolitan Population Health Unit’s ‘Pathways to Improving Food Security’ publication [1]. A key focus included increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables through improved access, availability and affordability of healthy food. Other health benefits included increased mental wellbeing through involvement with nature and outdoors, and increased physical activity levels [2, 3].


Economic value
  • Given the NSCFN focus involved edible food growing, in both a residential and community-level capacity, community members could reduce their food costs.
  • Membership of the NSCFN was free of charge, thus providing inclusive involvement for people across socio-economic levels.
  • The NSCFN activities and projects upskilled community members and provided potential employment opportunities.

Environmental value
The City promotes environmentally friendly initiatives such as residential, verge and community gardens, which contribute to a reduction in heat, concrete and increases green space within communities [3]. In WA, green space has been associated with a lower likelihood of residents being overweight or obese [4].
Social value
  • An example of social connection between NSCFN members included olive harvesting and processing at Cockman House, a heritage site managed by the City. The Cultural Services team contacted the City’s ‘Healthy and Inclusive Communities’ team Health Promotion Officer, asking whether any of the NSCFN members had olive picking or processing skills. The purpose was to assist with harvesting and utilisation of the plethora of ripe olives on the Cockman House site trees. An email was disseminated through the network and an event was held to harvest and process the olives, thus building community skills and connections in this area.
  • Further, the City promotes the identification and strengthening of existing services or projects, such as community gardens. Through this, existing networks are strengthened and resource allocation efficiency is maximised.

Use value
  • The NSCFN projects offered a range of opportunities for community member involvement at multiple levels. For example, community members could become involved with existing projects if they didn’t want to lead new initiatives.
  • The City of Wanneroo’s NSCFN is an example of an effective partnership between local government and local residents. Through focusing resources on supporting and building capacity among residents, civic involvement that has a focus on health and wellbeing is maximised. Therefore, project sustainability is increased due to true community ownership.

References

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Community Gardens. 2010 [cited 2017 10 April]; Available from: https://http://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/healthtopics/healthyfood/community.htm.

2. Thompson, S., Corkery, L., Judd, B., The Role of Community Gardens in Sustaining Healthy Communities. 2007, Faculty of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales: Sydney: NSW.

3. Government of South Australia, Transit-oriented developments…through a health lens. A Guide for Healthy Urban Developments A collaborative Health Lens Project. 2011, Department of Health.

4. Pereira, G., Christian, H., Foster, H., Boruff, B.J., Bull, F., Knuiman, M., Giles-Corti, B., The association between neighborhood greenness and weight status: an observational study in Perth Western Australia. Environmental Health, 2013. 12(49): p. 1-9.

5. Hensgen, S., Planning for health. A study on the integration of health and planning in South Australia. 2009, Planning Futures Pty Ltd.


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