Bendigo Foodshare will receive funding of more than $600,000 over three years to launch a long-dreamed-of food growing initiative.
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Chief executive Michelle Murphy said the money would enable Foodshare to appoint a coordinator and two young trainees who will support a diverse range of community members in growing, cooking and selling healthy, culturally appropriate food.
The initiative will be rolled out at a number of locations, including the Bendigo Farmers Market, PepperGreen Farms, Golden Gums Farm and local schools.
The funding is part of a VicHealth initiative that will see $4 million divided between seven local Victorian community organisations to help increase access to locally produced, healthy food in regional and urban fringe locations.
The programs all involve paid traineeships for young people to educate and mobilise their communities and transform local food systems. They are also intended to encourage the sharing of food of different cultures.
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Ms Murphy said her organisation was very grateful for the opportunity to grow its food skills programs.
"While food relief remains a core focus, building the capacity of young people to develop food skills is an important long-term strategy to overcoming food insecurity in our region," she said.
On the ground in Bendigo, investigating the capacity on Friday was World Health Organisation (WHO) department head Monika Kosinska.
Ms Kosinska, from the WHO's social determinants of health department, had spent a week in Australia, with Bendigo a key destination.
What she had observed in Bendigo Foodshare's programs and plans was a building and development of community agency and empowerment was important for longer term sustainability.
"It is about giving the community the tools, the skills and the space to do what it needs to do for itself, because only the community knows what's best for itself," she said.
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