• Create a Food Leadership Action Group (FLAG) to lead the project
• Refine and implement a Collective Impact Measurement Framework
• Disperse funding and measure the impact of on-the-ground activities to build the case for a Community Food Hub
• Create a Community Food Hub Project Officer (external) position to coordinate the implementation of the project

• Invest in the proven public facing (front-end) premises
• Support innovation, prototyping and ‘lean experiments’ to evolve / adapt Food Hub model
• Develop business case for logistics hub (back-end support for front end premises)

• Develop a collaborative proposal for a (back-end) Logistics Hub in the north of Merri-bek to overcome logistics constraints (storage, refrigeration, vehicle costs) of community and micro food hubs.

• Open up facilities and assets to underpin a rapid increase in community food activities.
• Establish a community food enterprise innovation program to test and surface early-stage ideas and people with potential to support food security outcomes.

Between January and March 2020 we asked our community what a Community Food Hub in Merri-bek might look like and where it could be located.

We hosted 5 interactive co-design workshops where people contributed ideas to help shape a vision and inform a concept design for a community food hub in the north. We also asked our community to provide us with feedback and ideas by completing an online survey. All up over 75 residents and members of local food groups, including over 27 self-identified key stakeholders contributed their ideas and feedback

Modelling of Food Hub concepts was paused in May while stakeholders involved in the Community Food Hub Feasibility study responded to the increased and urgent need in the community for access to fresh food brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. They mobilised resources and volunteers and worked together to move and supply food to feed their community to respond to this urgent need.

An accelerated testing ground for rapid Community Food Hub prototyping / experiments was created, which clearly demonstrated the understanding, leadership and commitment these groups have for addressing food security in socially inclusive ways:

• Culturally appropriate and nutritious
• Provided in a safe, trusted and supportive environment
• Provided in ways that overcome the stigma of accessing food relief
• Provides pathways for people to regain agency over their access to food.

To continue this work, these leaders need reliable and ongoing funding streams to invest in the infrastructure and resourcing required to support food justice in the north of Merri-bek.

The feasibility study report (released 30 October 2020) includes outcomes and reflections from both pre-pandemic community consultations and the action engagement process undertaken by the project stakeholders during COVID-19

It recommends firstly establishing a collective impact approach by engaging a specialist to provide the backbone support for a Food Leadership Action Group (FLAG), and developing a Collective Impact Shared Measurement Framework. This provides the foundation and resources to consolidate each phase of the project and identify sources of funding which may come from a mixture of local and state government and philanthropic sources. The feasibility study identified the need for both front end (public facing) hubs and a back-end logistics hub as part of the model, which would be phased in over 5 or more years.