Welcome to the PlanEATary Quest!

Promoting planetary health, one bite at a time.

You are about to embark on a delicious, choose-your-own-adventure challenge to learn how we, as individuals, can create a more sustainable food system and improve the health of our planet for current and future generations.

The PlanEATary Quest involves these four steps. Use the menu in the top-right corner of this webpage to navigate your way through the steps

First: Complete Pre-Quiz

Start the journey to see where you kick the goal!

Second: Design your Challenge

Complete many tasks to improve your score

Third: Complete the Challenge

Spend around 2-3 weeks to reach your goal

Final: Complete Post-Quiz

Check how your score has been improved so far

DO YOU KNOW...?

Our global food system is contributing approximately one third of greenhouse gas emissions (1). Experts have called for an urgent transformation to the way food is produced and consumed (2), including a population-wide shift to healthy and sustainable diets.

The PlanEATary Quest is a fun, interactive intervention that aims to help you:

Identify how you can improve the way you’re interacting with our food system to promote human and planetary health.
Adopt new healthy and environmentally sustainable food habits, inspired by a supportive and collegial approach.
Reflect on the factors that help or hinder your environmentally sustainable food habits.

We'd love to learn about your journey on the PlanEATary Quest!

Please write a short reflection, thinking about the factors that helped or hindered your ability to complete the challenge. For example:

Your own motivation to change?
Your household - the people and living environment?
Your community?
Your Local Government Authority? (e.g., Any initiatives that promote more environmentally sustainable eating practices)
Your State or Territory Government?

If you would like to share your short reflection with us, we'd love to read it. Please submit your writing HERE.

The PlanEATary Quest was first developed by Dietitians Australia's Food and Environment Interest Group in 2009, then known as the 'Eco-Friendly Food Challenge' (EFFC). Acknowledgements to Barbara Radcliffe for leading this project. This was a 4-week, structured challenge that prompted participants to complete (i) a bin audit to measure food-related waste destined for landfill, (ii) a visit to a local farmets market to promote connection with primary producers, (iii) a pantry audit to identify local VS imported items, and (iv) a recipe challenge to encourage the use of plant-derived proteins. This resource was used as a tool to promote healthy and sustainable dietary behaviours amongst dietitians, and was used as an assessment task by many educators involved in teaching our future dietetic workforce, including Monash University, Deakin University, University of Tasmania and University of Wollongong. In 2022, Dr Liza Barbour and Sandy Murray successfully applied for a grant from the International Congress of Dietetic Associations, as part of their Sustainable Food Systems Toolkit. All members of Dietitians Australia's Food & Environment Interest Group's Leadership Committee were invited to join a small working group to implement this project. Nicole Senior, Sara Forbes, Nathan Cook, Grace Zadow and Aimee Bowles took this opportunity and met with Liza and Sandy every 4-6 weeks from September 2022 - September 2023 to revamp the EFFC to reflect current evidence. A graphic designer was engaged to develop a brand identity, and the PlanEATary Quest was born! The PlanEATary Quest is intended to promote self-reflection about the way we interact with our food system, and a shift towards more environmentally sustainable practices. Intended initially for the nutrition and dietetic workforce, this resource will be expanded for use by other health professionals, workforces, the general public and ultimately children and young people.

Dr Liza Barbour
Monash University

Sandy Murray
University of Tasmania

Dr Liza Barbour
Monash University

This resource was developed by this dedicated Working Group of seven volunteers, all dietitians and members of DA’s Food & Environment Leadership Committee. This project was funded by a grant from the International Congress of Dietetic Associations (ICDA) and led by grant applicants Dr Liza Barbour and Sandy Murray.

We would like to acknowledge and thank Monash University dietetic students, Zi Wong, Jingjun (Phoebe) Wu, Wancin (Wendy) Tan, Halle Yip and Jessica Gleeson, and their supervisors Kathy Faulkner, Stacey Holden and Stefanie Carino for piloting this intervention with the wonderful team at Eastern Health in Victoria.

We also gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the web application development team: Thi Hoang Kim Mai (Project Manager), Thanaporn Kanchanawong (Project Coordinator), Thamonwan Nitatwichit (Frontend Developer), Huu Thien Pham (Backend Developer), Le Phuong Linh Vo (Project Researcher), Prof. Khin Than Whin (Project Supervisor), and Karen Charlton (Co-supervisor). Their dedication and technical expertise were instrumental in designing and building the digital platform that supports this intervention.

For further information about the resources, intervention and evaluation, please contact: liza.barbour@monash.edu.

Sandy Murray
University of Tasmania