Community

The Well Fed foodtruck in action.

KEEPING TASSIE KIDS WELL FED

Interview: Stephanie Williams

The Well Fed Tasmania program is acommunity initiative to help Tassie kids and their families to make healthy food choices. Emma Rowell, the Program Manager of Family Food Patch, share why they’ve taken their message on the road.

What is Well Fed Tasmania? It’s a shared community mobile kitchen/food truck between the Child Health Association Tasmania (of which Family Food Patch is an initiative) and the Tasmanian School Canteen Association. We were lucky enough to receive a grant for community infrastructure from the Department of State Growth to set the ball rolling with getting her built, and she was launched in August 2018 at Parliament Lawns.

How did it come about? The two organisations are very passionate about Tasmanian children and their families having access to food knowledge, confidence, skills and produce. We also love celebrating and supporting fresh, local Tasmanian produce. As statewide not-for-profits, we previously attended community events lugging trestle tables about in our cars and having limited options of food demonstrations, workshops and samples with no extra facilities. Well Fed Tasmania allows us to really broaden the scope of delicious fast food which is colourful, delicious and nutritious. The truck invites curiosity from the community as she packs quite a punch on the eye and doesn’t have the word healthy branded all over her – we simply offer food that happens to be good for you.

Who does the food truck help and how? A mobile kitchen means we can go to the produce and pop up in all sorts of quirky places to rustle up something simple but scrumptious. We can talk to parents and children about the food we are preparing, give

them opportunities to try something new and then head home with the recipe. We have had some wonderful support from community members donating fresh veggies and herbs when they hear of events in their neighbourhood. It would be great in the future to also build up a network of regional suppliers and producers who could donate ingredients for our community hub events as we travel about – showcasing their Tassie produce to the community they are a part of.

Has Covid had an effect on the truck? Since our launch, Well Fed Tasmania has been part of 70 community events, workshops, conferences, presentations and school tasting sessions and pootled all over Tasmania. We’ve covered 20,000 kilometres from Queenstown to St Helens, Nubeena to Devonport and many places in between. When COVID restrictions hit in March we had to cancel eight events that month alone. So after five months parked up, we’re thrilled to be back out on the road and have up and coming events in Westerway, Swansea, Ouse, Ravenswood, Smithton and Wynyard.

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