Cooking up a solution to food insecurity

The People’s Kitchen has received funding from Latrobe Health Assembly to expand to into 2025. Delivered by Morwell Neighbourhood House, the program is a collaboration with Latrobe Health Assembly, EnergyAustralia and Morwell Neighbourhood House that provides homecooked meals for those in need.

People’s Kitchen calls on the generosity of local businesses and community groups to volunteer their time to prepare nutritious meals for the community. The expansion of the program will see nutritionist-designed meal plans, the packaging of People’s Kitchen as a model that can be reproduced by other community groups, and micro grants to assist community groups to adapt and deliver the model themselves.

“Communities know what they need, and Neighbourhood Houses are all about empowering communities to develop solutions to meet those needs. Morwell Neighbourhood House’s People’s Kitchen is a perfect example of that,” said CEO of Neighbourhood Houses Victoria, Keir Peterson.

According to the 2020 Victorian Population Health Survey:

• 6.6% of the Latrobe Valley population experience food insecurity with hunger
• 11.3% of Latrobe Valley families ran out of money to buy food in the last 12 months
• 18.1% of the Latrobe Valley population indicated that they never, or not often, feel valued by society, compared to Victoria’s 11%

On her experience volunteering with People’s Kitchen, Co-Founder of Girls with Hammers, Kerryn Vaughn, said, “It’s a good way to take ownership… It’s actually pouring your love into it and saying ‘You’re a valuable human being and you deserve to know your food was made with you in mind.’”

Since the beginning of the People’s Kitchen, there have been:

• 596 individual volunteers preparing frozen meals for distribution.
• 2,728 hours in volunteered time.
• An estimated $118,040,56 in volunteered hours.
• 7,940 frozen meals prepared.

“Food insecurity is an ongoing challenge with no one-size-fits-all approach. The People’s Kitchen doesn’t say ‘here’s a solution’, it says ‘we can all be part of the solution’. Inviting the community to the table is what creates lasting change” says Latrobe Health Assembly Chair, Tanya Rong.

To learn more about the People’s Kitchen, or to register your interest in taking part, visit: https://morwellnh.org.au/programs/the-peoples-kitchen/