Eat Well Feel Good Ballarat

illustration

Eat Well Feel Good Ballarat is a partnership between the City of Ballarat and Ballarat Community Health that aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the community by providing healthy food and drinks at council-owned facilities and partnered sports clubs. 

Sport and recreation locations including pools, sporting clubs and indoor stadiums, particularly where young people play, offer an opportunity to have a positive impact on community health. Not only through the chance to be physically active but also through the food and drinks available and promoted to customers. 

This project is an expansion of Ballarat Community Health’s Eat Well Feel Good IGA initiative which aims to make it easier to fill your trolley with healthy options through simplified label reading and promoting foods identified as the highest health star rating.  

Phase 1 of the project saw an online consultation take place to gain a better understanding of the food and drink habits and needs of the community to support the project.  

The survey was undertaken between November 2021 and April 2022.  

We received 50 responses during this time which provided us with a good overview of actions needed to provide a better standard of food and drink options.  

  • 44% of respondents thought the food quality was low 

  • 77.1% of respondents thought the range of healthy food options was low 

  • Ice creams and icy poles were the most popular items purchased 

  • 43% of people purchase water as the drink of choice 

  • Cost was the highest influence on purchasing  

  • Sandwiches and coffee were the highest requested food and drink options followed by fresh fruit and salads 

  • 78% would like to see more healthy food and drink choices added to the menu 

With this information in mind, The City of Ballarat has committed to deliver a healthy drinks fridge at its outdoor pool kiosk and at Selkirk stadium. This involves supplying 40% green drinks (water varieties), 30% amber drinks (juice and milk products) and 20% red drinks (sports drinks and soft drinks). We will also aim to introduce some healthier food options at these locations.  

To help encourage the purchase of green drinks we have altered the price to make choosing healthy the easy option. As well as this, we have developed, in partnership with young people, a fresh marketing campaign that will help encourage community to choose healthier options.  

illustration