Council and Multicultural Arts Victoria to deliver Shepparton Culture Kitchen

Shepparton Culture Kitchen was one of five projects to receive funding under Stage 1 of VicHealth's The Art of Good Health program.

The project will bring the region's diverse cultures together to highlight the importance of food and culture.

A team of eight local women from diverse backgrounds will collaborate with artist Jamie Lewis to co-design a range of interactive food-sourcing, cooking, and eating experiences and public events.

The experiences and events will be based on the stories, knowledge and cultures of local diverse communities and will feature healthy eating messages.

The program will explore the many food cultures that call Greater Shepparton home, and the vital role each community and culture plays in addressing the significant issues of health inequity and disadvantage.

"Food and the conversations around it are about so much more than what we eat," Council Mayor Cr Seem Abdullah said.

"Shepparton Culture Kitchen will promote healthy eating in our community while also encouraging our residents to connect with their cultures. It will diversify and build local knowledge around what food means to different communities in Greater Shepparton.

"Council is looking forward to working with MAV and Primary Care Connect to deliver Shepparton Culture Kitchen and unlock the flavours of Greater Shepparton."

MAV CEO, Veronica Pardo, said artists and cultural practitioners are an untapped resource in the fight for health equity.

"MAV is proud to partner with Greater Shepparton City Council to elevate the voices of local, culturally diverse artists and community members as experts in their own lived experience, with the knowledge and skills to design interventions that address systemic barriers to good health," Ms Pardo said.

"What they need, are resources. We are thrilled to be a conduit for community self-determination and look forward to learning from this project."