The Central West Gippsland Primary Care Partnership (CWGPCP) is supporting our members and community groups to increase food access and availability during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The CWGPCP has a strong history of supporting food security work across Baw Baw and Latrobe; promoting access to nutritious food across our local government areas since 2007. The CWGPCP also facilitates two local Food Security Coalitions, the Baw Baw Food Movement and Food For All Latrobe Valley. Together with our partners, we identified an increased need for resources with a local area focus to support reliable access to nutritious food for our communities during coronavirus (COVID-19). We also needed consistent messaging available through a central platform.
To effectively and efficiently respond to new challenges presented by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we sought feedback from our partners to identify the current service gaps, community issues, pressure points and local needs. In response to the feedback we enacted the following actions in partnership with our members and local networks:
- Assisting our communities to access nutritious foods during coronavirus (COVID-19)
- Increasing media and online presence
- Supporting greater communication between food relief providers
- Increasing awareness of available food relief services
- Identifying gaps in the availability of culturally appropriate food
- Connecting community members with appropriate services
- Adapting community food security actions to ensure continuity of delivery
- Connecting our food system partners virtually
- Keeping our community and members informed about local services.
Full access to the resources developed to support this work can be found here.
As a result of these actions, our emergency food relief networks have reported feeling more connected and supported by the broader food system with stronger communication between providers. Community gardens and local fresh food outlets are noticing increased activity, and there has been renewed interest and requests for information on growing food at home. Both Food Security Coalitions social media accounts have also experienced increased engagement over the past month, and the food security resources have been shared and adapted by six other organisations across Victoria.
The PCP member organisations and community groups were able to readily mobilise in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as a result of the solid foundation developed through the PCPs existing strong partnerships, clear communication and shared values. Remaining dynamic in our approach and consistently reflecting on and evaluating our work ensures we meet our members’ needs and has improved food security for our community.
Head to the Central West Gippsland Primary Care Partnership website to access the full resource list.
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