Whitehorse Food System and Access

A four-year Council-funded partnership grant will support the implementation of a local project called Building a Fair and Resilient Food System in Whitehorse. 

Our local community health service healthAbility was successful in their submission and is delivering the project in partnership with the Whitehorse Food Systems and Access Working Group.

The project employs a systems-based approach ensuring that outcomes are not isolated interventions but part of a broader integrated local food system. This supports long-term improvements in food security, diet quality, environmental sustainability, and community wellbeing. 

Overall, the project creates lasting structural and behavioural change, consistent with Council’s health and wellbeing priorities for prevention, equity, and resilience.


Food Access Map


Building on local research

This project builds on previous research by the North Eastern Public Health Unit and detailed mapping of Whitehorse’s local food system undertaken by healthAbility and Whitehorse City Council. Read the research here:

Whitehorse Food Mapping Project - Phase 1 Report, February 2026 ( PDF 448.41KB)
Whitehorse Food Mapping Project - Phase 2 Report, August 2026 ( PDF 904.71KB)

The issue

Over time, limited access to nourishing food contributes to reduced physical health, increased chronic disease risk, and poorer overall wellbeing. 

With 57.4% of people in Whitehorse not meeting the vegetable consumption guidelines and 17.3% of people consuming take-away food more than once a week (2% higher than the Victorian average), we are a community who could eat better. (Reference: Health and Wellbeing Profile 2024) 

And with the increasing cost of living and loneliness, our residents value affordable community-based food supports that are closer to home and socially connected.

Whitehorse Food Systems and Access Working Group membership 2026

  • Council Community Strengthening Team
  • healthAbility
  • North Eastern Public Health Unit (NEPHU)
  • Neighbourhood and Community Houses
  • Deakin University Student Association

For enquires, please contact the Community Strengthening Team at communitywellbeing@whitehorse.vic.gov.au

Interactive Whitehorse Food Map
Health and Wellbeing Profile 2024