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  • South West Food Community Project

    South West Food Community Project

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Food security and food environments

Food security refers to physical, social and economic access to nutritious food at all times, that meets a person’s nutrient requirements and food preferences. Food security is often categorised into pillars of food availability, access and utilisation. In contrast, food insecurity occurs when there is unreliable or irregular access to affordable, quality, nutritious food. Food insecurity is an important social policy problem, and high-income countries such as Australia are not immune to the issue. However, currently in Australia, there is a lack of comprehensive nationally representative data on the prevalence and severity of food insecurity among Australians, in addition to long term mental and physical health implications of food insecurity. Quality evaluation of government and community responses to food insecurity is also lacking.

Food environments have the potential to positively or negatively influence the availability and accessibility of food across communities and can in turn influence consumer purchasing and eating habits. Further evidence is required regarding the current capacity of and support required by local governments, to implement effective strategies to optimise population health.

Our food security and food environments research spans a wide range of topic areas and includes local, national and international research collaborations. Topics include:

  • Prevalence and perceptions of food in/security;
  • How food insecurity impacts children’s diet quality;
  • The association between food insecurity and children’s self-esteem and self-efficacy;
  • The association between food insecurity and food purchasing decisions;
  • Local governments’ capacity to support healthy food environments;
  • Food environment quality around metropolitan schools, Perth.
  • Consumer and food supply stakeholder perceptions of and recommendations to support locally grown food;
  • How COVID-19 has impacted food supply in South West Western Australia;
  • Food system stakeholder understanding of sustainable farming practices;
  • Systems-based methodologies to enhance community level food security.

For more information, contact Dr Stephanie Godrich.

Current projects

Research Team

Research Assistants
  • Jodie Henco (South West Campus)
  • Deb Brealey (South West Campus)
  • Jenny Payet (South West Campus)

HDR Students
  • Ana Gowrea (Master of Public Health), Transforming food environments for health: capacity analysis of four local governments in Western Australia.
  • Lucy Butcher (PhD), An investigation of the associated factors and measurement of food insecurity in Australia.
  • Nicole Phillipson (Hons), Exploring the Experience of Food Insecurity in Single-parent families.

Key publications

Selected publications
  1. Kent, K., Godrich, S., Murray, S., Auckland, S., Blekkenhorst, L., Penrose, B., Lo, J., Devine, A. Definitions, Sources and Self-Reported Consumption of Regionally Grown Fruits and Vegetables in Two Regions of Australia. Nutrients 2020, 12(4), 1026; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12041026.
  2. Blanchet, R., Loewen, O.K., Godrich, S.L., Willows, N., Veugelers, P. (2020). Exploring the association between food insecurity and food skills among school-aged children. Public Health Nutrition. Epub ahead of print.
  3. Godrich, S.L., Edmunds, M., Stoneham, M., Devine, A. South West Food Community: how government and community initiatives are supporting systemic change towards enhanced food security. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. Online; doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.12975.
  4. Lindberg, R., Barbour, L, Godrich, S.L. (2020). Promoting health for all: A rights-based approach to food security in Australia. Health Promotion Journal of Australia.
  5. Godrich, S.L., Kent, K., Murray, S., Auckland, S., Lo, J., Blekkenhorst, L., Penrose, B., Devine, A. (2020). Australian consumer perceptions of regionally grown fruit and vegetables: importance, enablers and barriers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(1), 63. doi:10.3390/ijerph17010063.
  6. Sambell, R., Andrew, L., Godrich, S., Wolfgang, J., Vandenbroeck, D., Stubley K., Rose, N., Shilton, T., Newman, L., Crook, R., Horwitz, P., Devine, A.(2019). Local challenges and successes associated with transitioning to sustainable food system practices: multi-sector stakeholder perceptions. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(11), pii: E2051, doi: 10.3390/ijerph16112051.
  7. Godrich, S.L., Payet, J., Brealey, D., Edmunds, M., Stoneham, M., Devine, A. (2019). South West Food Community: A place-based pilot study to understand the food security system. Nutrients – Nutrition and Vulnerable Groups special issue, 11(4), 1-12. doi:10.3390/nu10111603.
  8. Godrich, S.L., Loewen, O.K., Blanchet, R., Willows, N., Veugelers, P.V. (2019). Canadian Children from Food Insecure Households Experience Low Self-Esteem and Self-Efficacy for Healthy Lifestyle Choices. Nutrients – Nutrition and Vulnerable Groups special issue, 11(3), 1-12, Switzerland, doi: 10.3390/nu11030675.
  9. Godrich, S.L., Davies, C.R., Darby, J., Devine, A. (2018). Strategies to Address the Complex Challenge of Improving Regional and Remote Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Consumption. Nutrients – Nutrition and Vulnerable Groups special issue, 10(11), 1-13, Switzerland, doi: 10.3390/nu10111603.
  10. Godrich, S.L., Lo, J., Davies, C.R., Darby, J., Devine, A. (2017). Prevalence and socio-demographic predictors of food insecurity among regional and remote Western Australian children. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 41(6), 585-90. doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.12716.
  11. Godrich, S.L., Davies, C.R., Darby, J., Devine, A. (2017). What are the determinants of food security among regional and remote Western Australian children? Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 41(2), 172-177. doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.12636.
  12. Godrich, S.L., Lo, J., Davies, C.R., Darby, J., Devine, A. (2017). Are regional and remote Western Australian children eating for good health? An investigation into fruit and vegetable consumption. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 28(3), 233-237. doi: 10.1071/HE16090.
  13. Godrich, S.L., Lo, J., Davies, C.R., Darby, J., Devine, A. (2017). Which food security determinants predict adequate vegetable consumption among rural Western Australian children? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14 (40), 1-15. doi:10.3390/ijerph14010040.
  14. Godrich, S.L., Davies, C.R., Darby, J., Devine, A. (2018). Which Ecological Determinants Influence Australian Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Consumption? Health Promotion International, 33(2), 229-238. doi:10.1093/heapro/daw063.
  15. Butcher, L., Chester, M., Aberle, L., Bobongie, V., Davies, C., Godrich, S., et al. (2014). Foodbank of Western Australia’s Healthy Food for All. British Food Journal, 116 (9), 1490-1505. doi: 10.1108/BFJ-01-2014-004.
  16. Lawlis, T., Sambell, R., Douglas-Watson, A, Belton S, Devine, A (2019) The Food Literacy Action Logic Model: A Tertiary Education Sector Innovative Strategy to Support the Charitable Food Sectors Need for Food Literacy Training. Nutrients. 11(4):837. doi: 10.3390/nu11040837.PMID: 31013852 Free PMC article.
  17. Lawlis, T, Devine, A, Upton, P. Vulnerable, single and living in poverty: Women's challenges to accessing food in the Australian Capital Territory. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2018 Dec;42(6):541-546. doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.12845. Epub 2018 Nov 20. PMID: 30457195
  18. Butcher, L. M., Ryan, M. M., O’Sullivan, T. A., Lo, J., & Devine, A. (2019). Food-Insecure Household’s Self-Reported Perceptions of Food Labels, Product Attributes and Consumption Behaviours. Nutrients, 11(4), 828. doi:10.3390/nu11040828.
  19. Butcher, L. M., Ryan, M. M., O'Sullivan, T. A., Lo, J., & Devine, A. (2018). What Drives Food Insecurity in Western Australia? How the Perceptions of People at Risk Differ to Those of Stakeholders. Nutrients, 10(8). doi:10.3390/nu10081059.
  20. Butcher, L. M., O'Sullivan, T. A., Ryan, M. M., Lo, J., & Devine, A. (2018). Utilising a multi-item questionnaire to assess household food security in Australia. Health Promot J Austr, 1-9. doi:10.1002/hpja.61.
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