It is time to let Wollongong City Council know that we need more than just scratching the surface when it come to our food!

The Community Strategic Plan, the Draft Delivery Program 2022-26 and Draft Operational Plan 2022-23 are currently on public exhibition. It is imperative that every person who eats or cares about growing a more resilient, local and sustainable food system in Wollongong, lets council know that we need pro-active and intersectoral action to achieve this.

You can read the draft Community Strategic Plan here or read the Summary here.

What we told Wollongong City Council

“Our food system is under under great pressure from climate change and natural disaster related supply chain disruptions. Making matters worse are the impacts of the Ukraine-Russia war and associated sanctions, which are sending food prices to record levels and will push even more people in our community into food insecurity. These complex and systemic challenges require a pro-active and intersectoral solutions, with local governments playing a critical role, alongside other levels of government, businesses, and community^[1].

While we support the inclusion of food access in the CSP under 5.3: Work towards enabling all people in our community to have access to safe, nutritious, affordable and sustainably produced food. We are extremely concerned that this single action, without any measures, targets or dedicated budget is set up to only scratch the surface on a topic that plays such a central role in our community, our health and our environment. We therefore urge Wollongong City Council to bolster its commitment to the future of our food (access to, availability of, and use and utilization) by:

• Matching action 5.3 with appropriate measures, targets as well as dedicated budget in the Delivery Program and Operational Plan.
• Develop a dedicated food system strategy as supportive document to increases coherence, enable an pro-active and systematic approach and bring together the range of food system activities already undertaken. A great research and multiple resources to use in this process can be found here > https://law-food-systems.sydney.edu.au/ .

Please don’t miss the opportunity to future-proof equitable access to safe, nutritious, affordable and sustainably produced food for all people in our community.”

We invite you to use the above or an alliteration of the above in your submission for your convenience.

Ways to make a submission

• Make a submission by completing the feedback form.
• Email engagement@wollongong.nsw.gov.au
• Phone (02) 4227 7111
• Write to The Engagement Team, Wollongong City Council, Locked Bag 8821, Wollongong NSW 2500

^{[1] Carrad, A., Turner, L., Rose, N., Charlton, K.E., Reeve, B. (2022). Food System Innovation and Policy at the Local Level: A report on six local governments in New South Wales and Victoria. Sydney, NSW: University of Sydney.}