AT3

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Australian Catholic University *

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305

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Health Science

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Apr 3, 2024

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NUTR305 AT3 Project Report Isabella Krueger - S00284753 Word Count: 1990

‘Feeding Minds’: Reducing food insecurity workshop Background/Rationale Food insecurity is a public health issue that is influenced by various determinants. Current research shows that approximately 5% of the population experiences food insecurity (Seivwright et al., 2020) . Within the complexity of this issue, females, particularly in low-income communities are 50% more likely to experience food insecurity than males (Foodbank, 2019). Due to this vulnerability, there is a demand to introduce interventions that aid middle-aged females in reducing food insecurity. Individual determinants such as low-socioeconomic areas, lack of knowledge and limited culinary skills correlate with concerns related to food accessibility, affordability and utilisation (Monash University, 2023). Research shows that programs deemed most effective in reducing food insecurity involve improving skills and increasing knowledge, as it provides the ability for affected individuals to learn how to prevent and manage food insecurity. NEST is a food literacy intervention run by OzHarvest, the results from their program demonstrates that food insecurity in participants significantly decreased from 61.9% to 42.9% (West et al., 2020). The method of the NEST program has been evaluated to successfully reduce food insecurity in participants. Although with current programs in use, the need to target food insecurity remains. It is therefore clear that a gap needs to be addressed for reducing food insecurity within females, in areas such as the Blacktown LGA. This location compared to the NSW average, has lower socioeconomic indexes, lower levels of tertiary qualifications, and increased rates of unemployment (Tannous et al., 2021). These factors are all underlying determinants that influence the causality of food insecurity within selected populations. Due to the severity of food insecurity, the introduction of the program ‘Feeding Minds’ will reach the demand in assisting suffering individuals. This program is based on the determinants, and therefore involves expanding food literacy, building culinary skills as well as improving food budgeting abilities. This program uses the method of integrating knowledge into lifestyle practices to prevent and/or reduce food insecurity. Stakeholders The workshop ‘Feeding Minds’ consists of educational courses, interactive tasks, and practical classes. A range of stakeholders are required to collaborate in order to successfully run the program. A crucial role that is held within the development of this program is project coordinator, this role reflects setting clear objectives to reach the aim of the program. Their responsibilities involve scheduling meetings with other stakeholders regarding timelines, resources and overseeing all actions. Alongside the project coordinator is a small group of 3 individuals that make up the project team. Their roles revolve around managing the program to ensure it is run with minimal error. Their tasks include, attending meetings, organising advertisement, administration, and any other additional duties related to the program. As part of the workshop, educational classes will be held at Max Webber Library, in Blacktown NSW. The project coordinator will organise the classes alongside the Max Webber Library manager. A volunteer educator will be selected to work with the project coordinator in developing a short course regarding food literacy, budgeting and culinary skills. The educator’s main role in the program is

to conduct the classes, yet will also cooperate in monitoring and reporting progress for the program’s evaluation. Although volunteering work is unpaid, the educator will gain industry experience. As part of the workshop, an excursion to build culinary skills is included. Cathwest innovation college is the stakeholder that will operate the culinary class, the college is located in Mount Druitt, a suburb within the Blacktown LGA. The college offers a commercial kitchen with supplied equipment, as well as a trained hospitality staff member that will volunteer to teach the attendees basic culinary skills. As the program is a non-profit organisation, stakeholders and resources were strategically selected to work as volunteers, however resources that require funding remain. For this reason, the program will apply for a small grant from the government to cover funds such as the library function room to hold the classes, transportation for the excursion, and other additional materials and resources. The program system is designed to achieve the goal of reducing food insecurity by improving dietary habits. Improving the welfare of individuals, positively impacts the communities in which they belong to, this effect is to be reflected by implementing the program within the Blacktown LGA. Program Action Statement To achieve the program goal of reducing food insecurity, three objective aims were developed based on the determinants found to be most influential in the causality of food insecurity. A low income is the strongest, most consistent predictor of food insecurity (Seivwright et al., 2020). To address this concern, the first objective involves a skill-based course for individuals to improve their budgeting skills. Table 1 presents the strategies in place to carry out this objective. The budget sheets results will be used to measure success of the strategies in meeting the objective. A second determinant prevalent within food insecurity is the association with inadequate food literacy (Begley et al., 2019). Table 2, presents the objective to expand food literacy through interactive classes, applying developed knowledge to improve dietary habits. Table 3 states the third objective, building culinary skills, and the strategies developed in accomplishing this. This determinant derives from research which demonstrates that culinary skills is considered an essential element in the ability to consume healthy, sustainable diets (Armstrong et al., 2021). Strategies The development of the strategies derived from researching previous programs that have been deemed effective, as well as observation from the community engagement placement (CEP); ‘Carevan’. The CEP involved many short term fixes for reducing food insecurity such as providing hot meals and groceries to feed food insecure individuals. The program however was not addressing the factors that were causing these individuals to find themselves in this position. Therefore, when designing this program, each strategy was developed to create sustainable solutions for food insecure females. This was accomplished by creating methods that would integrate teachings into their daily lives, leading to an improvement in dietary habits that would result in a reduced prevalence of food insecurity. The strategies between each objective have particular similarities, thus being an education driven class to increase knowledge or skills, followed by an interactive and/or practical class to apply new knowledge. The form of these strategies ensure the attendees can integrate both their knowledge and skills into their daily lives to create an actual change, rather than a quick fix. In Table 1, the strategies that address

improving budgeting skills are based on the evidence that financial stress is strongly associated with food insecurity (Botha & Payne, 2022). The strategies implemented teach food insecure individuals how to improve their budgeting skills, these skills go beyond the program as they are life-long skills that remain applicable for reducing food insecurity. The strategies presented in Table 2, focus on expanding food literacy through an educational workshop with two interactive activities. These strategies stem off a previous study with similar methods that demonstrated results of improvements in food security status, food preparation behaviours and nutrition knowledge (West et al., 2020). In addition, research shows that focusing on improving food literacy and skills may help develop resilience to manage food insecurity better (Begley et al., 2019). The strategies presented in Table 3, aim to build culinary skills through attending a culinary class. Lack of skill is a determinant of food insecurity (Monash University, 2023), when addressed, individuals can consume a larger variety of foods due to obtaining the skill set to prepare foods for consumption. As observed in the CEP, Carevan, attendees are given hampers consisting of foods that require preparation methods. With improved skills, more of these foods can be consumed, therefore bettering the dietary habits of food insecure individuals. Program Plan Situation Reducing food insecurity in females Working in collaboration with Blacktown library and Cathwest Innovation College. Priorities The mission of the program is to provide attendants with the knowledge and skills to be used to reduce food insecurity. Input Stakeholders/Partners: - Project coordinator - Project team (3 membres) - Volunteer educator - Blacktown library staff members - Cathwest Innovation College (facility & staff) Funding: - Government NGO Grant - Volunteer work Time: - Planning: 4 weeks - Program Workshop: 8 weeks - Total: 12 weeks Materials/Resources/Facilities - Max webber library function room - to hold classes - Cathwest innovation hospitality facility - culinary class - Worksheets/Budget sheets for interactive tasks - What we invest Outputs - Develop short curriculum to determine topics to be taught

- Advertise workshop across local shopping centre (posters), as well as over social media (facebook posts) - Workshop that consists of educational classes regarding food literacy, food budgeting and culinary. - Run interactive/practical classes - What we do - Who we reach - Food insecure individuals - Individuals seeking education around food literacy to improve their living situation. Outcomes - Short term results Gain understanding on topics that can improve their dietary habits - Medium term results Successfully apply their knowledge into practice - Ultimate Impact(s) Integrate knowledge and skills into their daily lives, ultimately reducing food insecurity through improved dietary habits. Implementation and Evaluation To initiate the implementation of the program, meetings between stakeholders took place to plan out the execution of the workshop. Various meetings were scheduled to confirm how each strategy would be run. For all strategies, a learning space was needed to conduct the education classes. The program partnered with Max Webber Library, and organised a weekly hire of their function room. The function room holds up to 20 people, this then determined the number of participants able to attend the workshop, and clarified the amount of materials that would need to be provided. In table 1, 2 and 3, the activity and task columns present a detailed outline of the timeframe, members and tasks regarding the planning of the program. The workshop includes a range of interactive activities, each targeting a specific skill or education for the attendees to learn. The strategy section in Table 1, 2 and 3 list the activity that addresses each of the program's objectives. Table 4, outlines in detail the evaluation process for meeting the objective of increasing budget skills in at least 25% of participants. The second strategy involves a budget sheet task to be completed by participants over the course of 2 weeks, these sheets are then collected to be assessed. To evaluate the success rate of this strategy, an improvement in at least 5 out of 20 budget sheets is required. The evaluation of objective two is presented in table 5, where it is demonstrated that the facebook page uploads required within strategy three, where used to evaluate the application of food literacy from participants. Table 6, lists the use of post-workshop questionnaires to evaluate long term outcomes in participants. The project team conducts a questionnaire regarding questions that ultimately determine if the participants had found effective use in their culinary skills for improving dietary habits. In regards to the workshop as a whole, the attendance of participants to each class and activity is recorded, the attendance rates are evaluated to assess interest and practicality of the

program. The evaluation methods were designed to show success with the program's aim of integrating new practices to better dietary habits, and ultimately reduce food insecurity. Communication of Outcomes The sustainability of the program is reflected in the use of community engagement and stakeholder involvement. The program partners are within local residency to the targeted population, allowing for efficient accessibility in attending the program. The program also focuses on building knowledge and skills for food insecure individuals, not just providing short-term relief. By equipping the participants with these skills the program aims to reduce food insecurity in the long-term. The program is also monitored and evaluated to assess the progress and impact, allowing for future adaptations or needs of improvement to be implemented if required. In conclusion, the program ‘Feeding Minds’ embodies a long term approach by addressing the underlying determinants of this issue. Through sustainable and carefully developed strategies, and the assistance of stakeholders, the program is deemed to be effective in reducing food insecurity in females. References

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