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Lessons learned in initiating a vision for a Community Supported food System in the University Setting
Conference presentation

Lessons learned in initiating a vision for a Community Supported food System in the University Setting

Angela Cleary, Judith Maher and Hattie H Wright
Food Security Conference: Putting food on the table: Food security is everyone's business, 2014 (Liverpool, Australia, 13-Oct-2014–14-Oct-2014)
Right to food coalition
2014
url
http://righttofood.org.au/View
Webpage

Abstract

Nutrition and Dietetics community garden University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) fruit and vegetable consumption campus food environment
University students are a population group at risk of food insecurity with many students experiencing poor access and availability to fresh fruit and vegetables. Investigation into the barriers and enablers to fruit and vegetable consumption at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) found that the campus food environment did not support the consumption of fruit and vegetables due to limited availability and high cost. More broadly it was also identified that the food supply on campus was not based on sustainability principles and did not support our local farming industry. A vision to improve the food supply by establishing a community supported and sustainable food system on campus was conceived. It was anticipated that such an initiative could not only contribute to addressing food security issues and enhance the health and wellbeing of the USC community but would also integrate with teaching and research agendas. The first step in establishing this vision was the development of a community garden. Community gardens are now common place in schools and are often initiated by community groups on community owned land. Establishing a community garden within a university setting, however, remains a novel approach. Since the project was initiated in November 2012, funding has been sourced, a multidisciplinary steering committee established, land allocated, a master plan developed, a team of over 115 volunteers registered and construction of stage one of the master plan commenced. This presentation will describe the key lessons learned from establishing a collective vision through to implementing a university specific sustainable community supported food system.

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