CEQ nutritionist ready to take on store-driven healthy eating

BY JEN ENOSA & CHRISTINE HOWES

Retail operator Community

Enterprise Queensland (CEQ) has appointed a new Store Nutritionist to help further drive healthier eating in remote Cape York and Torres Strait Islands communities.

Georgia Day will work closely with CEQ Nutrition and Wellbeing Manager Melinda Hammond as the organisation prepared to release its 2023-2027 Nutrition and Wellbeing Strategy in the coming weeks.

Georgia was appointed to lead the Gather and Grow Healthy Stores project, a partnership with Health and Wellbeing Queensland, and work alongside remote store teams to improve the position of healthy food options and make it easier for customers to purchase.

Georgia said she was passionate about nutrition and improving the health outcomes of people living in remote and rural communities.

“I’m delighted to have joined CEQ and am really enjoying getting to know the communities, building relationships, and getting as much feedback and knowledge as I can,” she said.

“My role is focused on in-store environments and promoting health and wellbeing by encouraging customers towards healthier choices.

“My passion is creating healthenabling food environments.

“I‘m excited to be a part of implementing long-lasting and positive changes within CEQ that will support community aspirations for health.”

Ms Hammond said they were keen to drive a nutrition and wellbeing strategy for the stores.

“The company is really changing direction and very much interested in our new vision which is ‘caring everyday always’,” she said.

“A big part of that is caring about the health and wellbeing of the communities we service, so I’m developing a nutrition and wellbeing team that will work with our store group and bring healthy choices to consumers, making it easier for people in the Torres Strait to keep their families healthy.

“In a few weeks time we will be releasing a four-year nutrition and wellbeing strategy which will talk about what our commitments are to the communities we service and the sort of work we’ll be doing with our stores to make them healthy stores.”

Ms Hammond said Georgia’s appointment in the Store Nutritionist role showed CEQ’s commitment to healthy choices for its customers.

“We do take our social responsibility seriously in improving the overall health and wellbeing of the communities we serve, and we are very proactive in that space,” she said.

“We’re confident that Georgia will drive change and healthier choices across our stores.”

She said they were also seeking to appoint a First Nations Nutrition Cadet to work alongside Georgia in a travelling role to promote healthy eating and increase nutrition capacity in CEQ stores, particularly with staff, who were 90 per cent local.

“We can work with those store teams to strengthen the nutrition knowledge and health knowledge and then they can then pass that on to their family and community members,” she said.

“So that part of our work is not just working on what products are in the store.

“We put all the healthy products in prominent locations.

“We work on price, making the healthier choice is cheaper than the unhealthy options.

“We also work on lots of promotions – cooking demonstrations, the posters, the material on our digital screens.

“So that’s work that the cadet and Georgia will do.”

For more information, visit www. ceqld.org.au