How to Donate Food as a Hospitality or Food Retail Business
Wollongong and Illawarra businesses, did you know that you have a powerful opportunity to turn your surplus stock or leftover food into real, local impact? Donating food instead of letting it end up in landfill is simple, practical, and genuinely good for your business, the planet, and the people in our community. If you’re a […]
Cook, Chill, Chat is expanding outside the Illawarra for the first time
Healthy Cities Australia (HCA) is excited to share that our much-loved Cook Chill Chat (CCC) program is expanding outside the Illawarra for the very first time, and across into regional NSW! Thanks to funding from COORDINARE Southeastern NSW Primary Health Network, twelve new programs will be delivered between now and June 2026 in Shoalhaven, Goulburn, Queanbeyan, as well as the Illawarra. Cook Chill Chat isn’t just about learning cooking […]
Strengthening Australia’s Food Security: Our Submission to the National Food Security Strategy
The Australian Government has committed $3.5 million to develop ‘Feeding Australia: A National Food Security Strategy’, which they say will be formed in collaboration with farmers, fishers, industry and community to ‘boost the productivity, resilience and security of our food system.’ The strategy, guided by the Feeding Australia discussion paper, aims to ensure everyone in Australia can access affordable, nutritious […]
Introducing the Illawarra Regional Food Hub project
If you’ve been keeping your eye on our socials recently, you would have seen us do a little recruiting and sneakily touch on the idea of a food hub. You might have been wondering, what’s going on there?! Here’s everything you need to know about Healthy Cities’ new direction towards a food hub in the Illawarra. The idea of a bricks-and-mortar space for our region is not new. […]
First Ever Food Relief and Rescue Data Collected for the Illawarra
For the first time, we now have a snapshot of how food relief and food rescue is operating in the Illawarra! Healthy Cities Australia, through our Regional Food Donation Coordinator project funded by the NSW EPA, conducted the first baseline survey of local food relief activity. The data collection and analysis was completed in partnership […]
We are hiring: Project Manager – Regional Food Hub (Wollongong)
Would you like to make a lasting impact on food justice and community wellbeing? We are hiring a Project Manager (Regional Food Hub) at Healthy Cities Australia. About Us We’re a not-for-profit organisation and part of the WHO Healthy Cities movement, working to create healthier, more equitable communities. Through our initiative Food Fairness Illawarra, we’re building a […]
The Loop Kitchen: How this Illawarra business is reducing waste through local, sustainable meals
The Loop Kitchen is on a mission to make sustainable eating convenient, local, and plastic-free. Founded by a passionate Illawarra local with a lifelong commitment to reducing waste, the business delivers fresh, seasonal meals in reusable containers, proving that convenience and care for the planet can go hand in hand. We spoke with Founder Véronique […]
Fair Food Champion: Sarah Anderson
If you’ve been in the Illawarra gardening or food scene for a little while, she needs no introduction — Sarah Anderson heads up one of Wollongong’s only market gardens, Popes Produce, alongside being part of the crew that hosts the Bulli Crop Swap and FoodTalks Illawarra. Whether she’s eloquently educating locals on living in harmony […]
Fair Food Champion: Emily Fowler
Grab your garden hoses and hold onto your hats – the Illawarra Edible Garden Trail is coming back for its third year! After two years being coordinated by the incredible AJ Linke, heading up the trail has now been passed into the very capable hands of Emily Fowler, a previous FFI volunteer who is extremely […]
Yum in a Box is taking the stress out of school lunches
For parents, school term can be a bit like bootcamp – you work, you ferry around the kids to school, activities and play dates, you make dinner, you put them to bed…and then you have to make school lunches! Northern suburbs local Erin Matts, founder of Yum in a Box, is tackling lunchbox fatigue and […]