Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support a campaign aimed at changing the eating habits of people in Melbourne's west through the wit and wisdom of Jamie Oliver. We all know the benefits that a balanced diet can bring. It is the key to fighting a variety of preventable diseases and decreasing the alarming rates of obesity in our community. But in our busy lives, where takeaway food is plentiful, it is easy to forget the importance of healthy eating. In some suburbs in my electorate there are more than six times more takeaway stores than fruit and vegetable stores. Despite the culinary wonders of the Footscray market and the Altona and Newport farmers markets, 50 per cent of my community felt they could not access fruit and vegetables due to low income, physical disability or lack of access.

The eating habits of Melbourne's west are ready for change. And who better to change them than the people's champion of healthy living, Mr Jamie Oliver? Jamie Oliver's programs have already shown millions around the world how to cook and eat wholesome, nutritious food. His most recent project is the Ministry of Food Pop-Up Kitchen, which will settle in an Australian community for 12 months to give hands-on training in healthy eating.

Members of my community including representatives of Victoria University, LeadWest, Maribyrnong City Council and the Macedon Ranges and North Western Melbourne Medicare Local have started a campaign to bring that pop-up kitchen to Melbourne's west. There is nowhere in Australia that would benefit more from the expertise of the Ministry of Food. We have both the need and the community infrastructure to make the Ministry of Food a success. We have world-class facilities in Victoria University's Footscray campus, where the kitchen could be based, close to the people who need it the most. So I say to people in Melbourne's west: join the campaign, like the Facebook page, tell your friends and help bring Jamie Oliver's pop-up kitchen to our community. Jamie Oliver, we are waiting for you. (Time expired)