Map My Food survey for Barraba still open

How do you shop for food? Map My Food survey closing soon!

Deakin University public health experts are encouraging locals who haven’t already taken part in the Map My Food survey to share their experiences of where they shop for food and why. 

The Map My Food project wants to hear from anyone 13 years and over in the Tamworth and Hunter New England region before the first-of-its-kind community survey closes on Monday 8 December.   

Dr Cindy Needham Deakin’s Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition (GLOBE) in the Institute for Health Transformation (IHT) said the research team is keen to understand how people get their food as a first step in improving access and availability of healthy food in regional communities. 

‘We want to know do people grow their own vegetables, swap produce with neighbours, travel long distances looking for good deals or fresher produce? Emerging insights from the community are already telling a really interesting story which has not been heard before from regional and rural Australia,’ Dr Needham said. 

‘Participants may not be the main shopper in a household but might shop for lunch at work or buy after school snacks. Everyone is different – whether you live on a farm, in town, or in a share house, everyone has a unique story about how they get their food. We also want to get ideas about would make it easier for people living in regional and rural communities to buy good quality and affordable healthy food. The information we collect will help local organisations as they work to improve local food systems in line with what people want,’ Dr Needham said. 

Map My Food can be accessed through the Map My Food link (mapmy.com.au/myfood) or through the Map My Food Facebook page which has a website link and QR code.  

The Map My Food platform was developed and tested with members of the community, researchers from Deakin University Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition and the University of Newcastle’s Department of Rural Health, as well as key partners from Tamworth Regional Council and Hunter New England Central Coast Primary Health Network.  This project is supported by funding support from the Australian Government’s Medical Research Futures Fund.