Hilltop - Burnie Community House

EXCEUTIVE SUMMARY
Hilltop Fresh Produce Project’s primary focus is to address food insecurity in Shorewell Park a suburb of Burnie. Shorewell Park is an area identified as one of the most disadvantaged communities in Australia confirmed by ABS 2011 census data and the SEIFA (disadvantage index) where Shorewell Park sits in the most disadvantaged ranking.
The projects social purpose is to develop a community food hub that creates a sustainable model that improves the health and wellbeing of the local residents and others by increasing access to good quality affordable fresh produce; creates opportunities and pathways to training and employment and increases skills and knowledge around healthy lifestyle choices.
We believe the project has immeasurable potential to contribute to the improved health, wellbeing and quality of life of the residents and surrounding areas of Shorewell Park Burnie. Community based food hubs have a successful history of improving food access to communities in areas of disadvantage. They also act as a space for the community to come together and make positive connections to the wider world.
The project will become a food system and develop sustainable models in 2 major areas:
Fresh Food Supply – A Pilot Hilltop Fresh Produce Pop-Up Store offering access to affordable fruit, vegetables, herbs, bulk foods, healthy take home meals and other of value products.
Fresh Food Production – A Pilot Hilltop Market Garden will develop a model for growing seasonal fruit, vegetables and herbs to assist supply to the produce store and other niche markets in the Burnie environs.
Broader Community Engagement would occur through the delivery of accredited training and skills development at skill centres already established at Burnie Community House and TasTAFE Burnie. The volunteer participants will actively work in the market garden and produce store. A key outcome being the closing of a gap in services, by improving access to affordable fresh produce in the community. The store, market garden and skill centre are all located within 1km of each other in Shorewell Park making all projects easily accessible to local residents. Informal learning will occur throughout the life of the project at Burnie Community House offering programs, workshops and activities wrapped around healthy lifestyle and food choices.