Who We Are

Globally, poor diet accounts for more chronic disease than tobacco, alcohol and physical inactivity combined. Poor diet is a significant contributor to the rising number of people who are overweight or obese. Across Australia 2 in 3 adults are classified as overweight or obese, as well as 1 in every 4 children. These trends have costly impacts for the individual, the Australian economy, and our health care system.

The Community Plate is an initiative responding to this burden and the growing rates of poor diet locally, nationally and globally.

Poor diet is not just an individual problem. The contribution of social and environmental factors – for example the impact of our food system, how we make, grow, access, buy and consume food has also become increasingly apparent. Healthy environments are key to preventing this burden of disease.

In 2017 a group of local primary prevention representatives came together to workshop the idea of taking a Collective Impact approach to the local food system. As a result Peninsula Health, Frankston City Council, Mornington Peninsula Shire, the Frankston Mornington Peninsula Primary Care Partnership, the Department of Health and Human Services and Monash University committed to taking a long-term Collective Impact approach to strengthen the local food system to better influence healthy eating outcomes across the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula Regions.

Officially launched in 2019, the Community Plate has recently undertaken an extensive community engagement process, connecting with individuals, organisations, businesses, funders and community members to develop our Community Aspiration:

We are all connected to food that is local, healthy and abundant.

Peninsula Health and Frankston Mornington Peninsula Primary Care Partnership are resourcing the approach, and the focus over the coming months and years will be working to realise our community aspiration and move into the action phase of our work.

Community participation is critical to Collective Impact, the Collective will be engaging with organisations, agencies and community members over the coming months and inviting them to be actively involved.

 A Collective Impact approach takes working in partnership and collaboration to the next level. The approach calls for multiple organisations from different sectors and community members to unite under a shared vision for change and adopt a common agenda. It is founded on the belief that no one organisation can solve a complex social problem on their own.