About US!??

Health & Food Community was established by a Western Sydney University Student, full time Mum and resident of Western Sydney. The aims of the health and food community are to connect Western Sydney with simple & reliable information and services concerning food and health.

Research at Western Sydney University on social capital and the importance of health education is why this website was created.

Because there is an absolute need for free education, access to current skills and training and a supportive likeminded community.

What We Do @ Health & Food Community;

Lets help one another build knowledge and make the right choice on all things health and food .

Give access to current skills and training in Australia.

Give Information on health & food.

Provide a supportive place to discuss challenges regarding

health, food and ways to overcome them

(E.g. Religious barriers to health & food, dietary and health concerns or lifestyle limitations.)

Chef Quality Healthy Recipes (Soon to come)

Inspirational stories from Community Members (Soon to come)

The Report;

Upon conducting a ‘needs’ assessment (See Box 1) for an anonymous Western Sydney Community, two important challenges became obvious; competent competition with mass production and increasing social capital for individuals within Western Sydney(See Box 2 & 3) .

Box 1

Box 2

Competition with Mass Production, specifically; Increasing membership, Recognition & Reputation for local health & food Communities.

The process of assessing Needs, services or information for a community, with a emphasis on ‘current’ and ‘desired outcomes’ (Royse 2009).

‘Needs’; are what is required to bridge current results to desired outcomes(James 2010, Royse 2009, Soriano 1998, Sprouts 2017 & Watkins 2012).

Box 3

Social Capital can be measured by things like education, employment & economic growth (Cheers 2003).

Project can be located at;http://www.hungryforchange.tv/

Now on Netflix; https://www.netflix.com/au/

Trailer from; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MvAM97VDE8

Hungry For Change

Technological developments associated with industrialisation and globalisation have made it more confusing than ever before to make the right choice when it comes to healthy living and quality food for individuals and society (Southerton 2011). Alongside things like globalisation, mass production was created. Mass production today means big businesses, often have extensive online and offline marketing and advertisements and budgets created by ‘experts’ (Southerton 2011).

Conversations with residents and my own experiences living within Western Sydney, reveal a very strong community resilience. Members often invite new friends and family to support local business and communities, promising a reliable and fair arrangement. In most cases, this community participation can drive the very success or failure of that group. Academic literature on mutual exchange and joint enterprise in communities supports this idea (Cheers 2003 & Wegner 1998).

Members within Western Sydney, who share an ‘interest’ in Health & Food further strengthen community resilience against mass production (Taylor 2015).

According to post-modernist theory, the concept of what a community is, has become more fluid & transformative as we have progressed into the ‘Online’ era (Delanty 2010). This happens through things like belonging, capacity building, empowerment & information exchange. Online communities transcend and progress regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, location, gender, sex, and class etc.

Competing with mass production and increasing social capital, should foster a ‘community’ approach to achieve maximum benefits.

In researching the social capital of the Anonymous community as defined by, geographical location. I consulted The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2016 reports.

Important Facts;

· 78% of houses are ‘family’ homes

· lower educational achievement

· significant unemployment rates

· high amounts of work hours (39% work 40 hours or more a week of mostly Part-time and Casual Work).

Therefore the ABS report and community response to mass production, suggests that this is a group of people who are time poor, potentially undereducated on health and in need of inexpensive, simple health education.

Perhaps education and programs focusing on health, that are time and cost effective is a way for this community to boost ‘civic vibrancy’ via cause and effect’ (Cheers 2003).

Assessing ‘needs’/challenges’ and matching ‘goals’ are essential in continued community development in quality health and achieving ‘desired’ results’ (James 2010, Royse 2009, Soriano 1998, Sprouts 2017 & Watkins 2012).

Goal Two; Provide online access to health education.

Free family Education on health, delivered by a range of professionals and health organizations. The ‘education’, that is delivered should be at minimal or no cost and should emphasis on building community capacity (Craig 2011). Community capacity building within health education should ‘promote self-help and fuller engagement within economic and social life’ (Craig, 2011). Thus, building community capacity builds community empowerment (Adamson 2010).

Further, to have the highest success in building ‘social capital’ and community empowerment, available skills, training and apprenticeships should be EASILY accessible by the public. Emphasis on working within the local community or the available ‘health’ networks, (once established), to also address unemployment within the area.

Utilizing free social media and website software to build membership numbers, reputation and recognition via marketing and connection. An extensive interactive website would include; links to available stock, current sales, pre-purchasing foods online, competitions, health programs (online and physical), forums and links to reliable and relevant health information, organizations and services.

According to The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 report; 75% of residents have internet in their home. Suggesting, surviving and thriving in a digital society for today’s communities should focus on merging traditionally ‘place-based’ and ‘online’ community’s (Delanty 2010, Taylor 2015 & Wellman 1999).

Goal one; Create an interactive, online health & food community.

Challenges’ result in ‘needs’, ‘Needs’ result in ‘Desired Outcomes’ or ‘Goals’;

Challenges;

Needs;

1. Competition with mass production, specifically; membership and recognition of local communities & organizatins.

2. Lower Social Capital

Higher membership, recognition and reputation of local communities & organizations.

Improved social capital (presents many potential needs), specifically; health education in local geographical area.

Create an interactive Online Community. Promotes free membership, recognition and reputation.

Provide online access to health education to address improving social capital through education (Cheers 2003)

Maslow's Hierarchy

Maslow's Hierarchy; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-4ithG_07Q

Limited research methods equal limited results. This was by no means an extensive report, if you are unsure about the evidence I encouraged you to do more extensive analysis of the community and check my references.

However, trends from data have been observed and steps towards an interactive online community supports positive results. However, solutions must remain flexible and inclusive of existing members (Royse 2009 & Wegner 1998).

According to Maslow’s Hierarchy (Sprouts 2017), quality health, the lowest of Maslow’s ‘needs’; ‘physiological need’, food (Sprouts 2017) should be considered. When one completes all the required ‘needs’, the result is self-actualization (Sprouts 2017). Self-actualization has a transformative effect on community empowerment by things like improving life quality through community involvement (Adamson 2010). Thus, community involvement in quality food and health communities is fundamental in achieving goals for individuals and society (Sprouts 2017 & Wegner 1998).

Further, the website emphasis on ‘bonding’ within lower social capital communities through expanding access to networking, information and other resources beyond current social limitations. This has been provided at Health & Food Community. This should result in boosting ‘civic vibrancy’ and achieve goals (Cheers 2003).

Prioritising Community Needs and creating goals;

1- Create interactive online community

2- Provide health education & Skills and Training.

A solution to the challenges faced by the Community has emphasized the use of an ‘Interactive Online’ community. This interactive community is sourced via free online social media and webpage designs, potentially transforming a traditionally ‘place’ based communities to ‘online’ communities (Delanty 2010, Taylor 2015 & Wellman 1999). According to (ABS) 2016 report; 75% of people in the local geographical area, have internet access in their home. This should be utilized to maximise desired results.

The ORIGINAL REPORT has a third 'need' to reduce waste within community via giving back discounts and freebies to community members. Need three was not the primary aim of the website as one and two are. It is not a forgot goal, but rather requires more community participation before potential success.

Why I have chosen these specific activities and content on the website, to achieve goals one and two, and not other ‘face-to-face’ activities depend on the academic research and literature I have collected.

Many academic reports comment on the internet’s ability to empower individuals and communities via, community participation, capacity building, bonding social capital through education & the transformative nature of the internet itself (Cheers 2003, Craig 2011, Delanty 2010, Sprouts 2017, Wellman 1999 & Wegner 1998).

Health & Food Community provide collaborative solutions with encouraged participation from individuals and society. This is the bonus and the draw back within the community. If limited amounts of participation are achieved limited results will also be achieved.

We welcome all who support ideas on ‘Health’ And ‘Fresh Food’. And will forever be a NOT FOR PROFIT COMMUNITY that helps to connect people with healthy food and life choices!

References;

Cheers, B & Edwards, J & Graham, L. 2003. Social Change and Social Capital in Australia: A Solution For Contemporary Problems? Health Sociology Review, Vol 12, No 1, pp.68-85.

Craig, G 2011, Chapter 4.9 ‘Community capacity building: something old, something new’, in G. Craig et al. (eds.), The Community Development Reader: History, Themes and Issues, pp. 273-282.

Delanty, G 2010, Community, Routledge, London, Chapter 1: Community as an idea: loss and recovery (PDF 440 KB) pp. 7-27.

Royse, D.D. 2009. Needs assessment. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sprouts 2017, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, 5 January, online video, viewed 10 April 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-4ithG_07Q>

Southerton, 2011. Consumer Culture and Personal Life, sociology of Personal Life, Palgrave Macmillan Hampshire.

Taylor, J. (2015) Working with Communities. Oxford University Press. Chapter 3: What is community?: elements of community structure and functioning (PDF 1 MB) pp.46-67.

Watkins, R, Meiers, MW & Visser, Y 2012, A guide to assessing needs: essential tools for collecting information, making decisions, and achieving development results, The World Bank, Washington DC.

Wellman, B, Gulia, M 1999, ‘Virtual Communities as Communities: Net Surfers Don’t Ride Alone’ in M. A. Smith and P. Kollock (eds.) Communities in Cyberspace. Psychology Press, London

Wenger, E 1998, Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity, Cambridge University Press, Chapter 2: Community (PDF 1 MB) pp. 72-85.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 report; http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/POA2766?

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‘Goals’;

What Specific & Practical Solutions Health & Food Community present;

Give access to current skills and training in Australia.

Give Information on Health & Food.

Provide a supportive place for people to inspire other with personal stories relating to Health & Food.

Provide a supportive place to discuss challenges regarding Health & Food and ways to overcome them

(E.g. Religious barriers to health & food, dietary and health concerns or lifestyle limitations.)

Delivers Chef Quality Healthy Recipes (Soon to come)