Wollongong City Council is updating its Community Strategic Plan and invites YOU to be involved.
We see this as a great opportunity to highlight the importance of fair food and the need for this to be included in the strategy. The more fair food is featured in the submissions received, the higher it will be on Wollongong’s agenda.
Will you join us?
How to participate:
There are a few ways you can get involved:
- Now: 6th September – 18th October 2021:
Complete an online survey Here some of the recommendation we included in our response:- Imagine Wollongong 10 years from now, what would you like to see?
- A vibrant local food culture and economy that supports growers and producers,
- All residents to have access to affordable, culturally appropriate, nutritious, sustainable and local food,
- High-level food knowledge and skills within our community to make healthy food choices the norm and accessible to all.
- What needs to change in the Wollongong area?
- Adequately support and resource community gardens and farmers’ markets in order to increase local food production, food security and community resilience to food system shocks e.g. Paid farmers market and community garden coordinators.
- Adequately support and resource local community food hubs that support local farmers to sell locally and value add to their produce in order to improve sustainability of agricultural practices and food transportation to reduce reliance on fossil fuels for production and transport.
- Adequately support and resource regional food collaborations, who collectively work to increase local food consumption, food security and climate change resilience e.g. FFI.
- Adequately support and resource food waste educators Hidden Harvest, who since 2015 have been providing our community with the tools and forks to tackle food waste and shape a more sustainable food future.
- Lead the adoption of food waste reduction targets in the commercial sector and support pilot programmes that help the commercial sector to improve their food waste avoidance practices and facilitate the transition to alternatives to landfill disposal.
- Ensure unrestricted access to healthy food such as new urban release areas are planned with access to supermarkets/greengrocers and limiting access to fast food outlet.
- Adopt requirements to undertake social or health impact statements that incorporate food access issues before development plans are approved,
- Improve access to healthy food for communities by shaping zoning decisions that ensure the development of accessible, mixed use and activity generating centres,
- Incentivise developers to include businesses selling healthy food options in service centres and shopping centres.
- What are the challenges facing Wollongong over the next 5-10 years?
- Climate change impacts on agricultural production such as changes in season, increased pests or disease, extreme or unpredictable weather and drought, all have the potential to increase fresh food prices or reduce availability.
- Fossil fuel reliant food production and transportation exacerbates climate change, making food security unpredictable and vulnerable populations prone to price shocks. The food system is heavily reliant on fossil fuel derived nitrogen fertilisers and synthetic pesticides to maintain yields, and fossil-fuel derived diesel fuels for transportation.
- Loss of agricultural land, due to land degradation, conservation protection and encroachment of housing and other development. This reduces the availability of fresh foods in close proximity to population centres. Increasing sustainable agricultural production in close proximity to population centres means an increased opportunity for fresh food production and consumption, reduced transport costs and a more diverse food production network resilient to potential shocks.
- Imagine Wollongong 10 years from now, what would you like to see?
- Tell us your vision for Wollongong in 3 words. See above image.
- Host a community circle – have a look at the Community Circle Kit to find out more about how to do this.
You can find out more by reading the I love Wollongong because… FAQs.
