Key Achievements

As part of the 2024 Urban Agriculture Month we invited locals to join us in planning a Community Food Forum which aimed to:
• Celebrate local urban agriculture
• Offer inspiration from local and broader projects
• Strengthen relationships between local groups, project and networks
• Create new links, ideas, connections and initiatives

It was heart-warming to see just how alive urban agriculture is across our local region, and all the energy and passion to share, learn, and do more! We had over 50 people in the room, and a brief list of the ideas developed during the forum to be explored further in 2025 included:

• Exploration of Local Food Hubs
• Development of a Food-Focused Social Enterprise Community of Practice
• Map and promote Cooking Hubs (supports businesses or groups to process food surplus)
• Reduce Waste for Food Relief Services (consistent collection)
• Urban Agriculture in Schools
• Expand The Local Food Map
• Development of Sowing Circles
• Development of a networking platform where we can all stay connected

Special thanks to the Action Group who brought this day together, including:
Balnarring Food Co-op, Down’s Community Farm, Frankston City Council, Mornington Community Centre, Mount Martha Community Garden, Mornington Peninsula Shire, Project Fresh Start, Seaford Healthy Futures Hub and The Business of Food

The Community Plate will continue to explore these ideas, develop connections, and share more opportunities for involvement across 2025.

In mid-2024, the Community Plate collated a written submission for The Victorian Legislative Council’s ‘Inquiry into Food Security Victoria’. Our submission brought together a group of collective responses from The Community Plate, Mornington Peninsula Shire, local community members, groups, networks, and organisations.

The Community Plate were number 138 of 176 submissions, and you can find the collection of Submissions here: Submissions – Inquiry into food security in Victoria – Parliament of Victoria

The Inquiry Report was released in November and some of the key conclusions reflect that we need to:

• transition from a reliance on emergency food relief to a more sustainable, resilience based model
• take a systemic approach
• diversify our food production, and
• empower communities to take an active role in shaping local food systems

The Food security in Victoria Report will continue to inform the direction of our local food systems work.

A Grow Some Food Workshop is a fun, interactive session designed to teach beginner gardeners how to grow some food at home. With a particular focus on growing in smaller spaces, the workshop includes practical demonstrations and hands-on learning experiences for beginner gardeners. It also includes information on growing food at home, caring for plants and reducing waste.

The below resources have been developed for use by others to duplicate a similar workshop in their particular setting. The participant handouts can also be used by individuals looking for practical, easy to understand instructions for beginner home gardeners.

Download the workshop resources and handouts here:

Grow Some Food – Educator Notes
Aims for the session – Educator Notes
How to transplant Seedlings Handout
How to build an in-ground worm farm Handout
How to care for your plants Handout

In 2022, Healthy Food Basket data was collected locally. Here are the results. Please share these through your groups and networks to raise awareness that:

• Food is one aspect of the household budget that is increasingly becoming more expensive
• The increasing cost of healthy foods may lead people to purchase more discretionary foods
• There is a need to enhance the local food systems to improve availability, accessibility and affordability in order to better meet the needs of the population
• There is a need to support alternative sources of healthy food production (e.g. farmers markets, community gardens, home gardens) to reduce food stress and create a more resilient food environment

Download the infographics here:

Victorian Health Food Basket 2022 – Mornington Peninsula Shire
Victorian Health Food Basket 2022 – Frankston City Council

In 2019/20 The Community Plate undertook a broad community engagement process to help define and focus our priority efforts within the food system and create our Community Aspiration.

The community engagement process consisted of two phases. Phase One included face-to-face sessions with local organisations, individuals and groups. This allowed in-depth conversations about the barriers and enablers to increasing healthy diets, and offered a deep-dive approach, sharing knowledge of the food system along the way. Phase Two consisted of a two-pronged survey, which, using a snowball approach, was able to increase our reach with the resources we had available. A summary of the key findings can be seen below: