Food, nutrition and dining for Harmony Week

Food connects us to our family, friends, culture and traditions. It brings us together.

Aged care providers have a role to play in celebrating cultural diversity, through special mealtimes and events for people receiving care.

The upcoming Harmony Week (Monday 17 to Sunday 23 March 2025) is a time to learn about other people’s traditions, as well as share our own. It’s a great time to bring together older people from different backgrounds through mealtimes.

During Harmony Week think about how your service meets the cultural food and drink needs and preferences of residents and staff.

We have collected some ideas and examples below on how you could improve your food, nutrition and dining for Harmony Week and beyond.

Provide communication and language support services

Provide options to support people who speak languages other than English. This helps them to communicate meaningfully about their food preferences and cultural experiences. It may be helpful to work with language support services such as interpreters or bilingual staff. You might also ask for support from the resident’s family and friends.

Recognise and celebrate cultural diversity of residents, their families, and staff

Encourage a social dining environment where residents feel safe and comfortable to share stories and experiences from their different backgrounds. Work with residents from non-English speaking backgrounds using images of food found in magazines or recipe books to encourage conversation and engagement around food preferences. Talk to their , which may be a friend or family member, to find out how to celebrate with food in ways that are meaningful for them.

Plan early to make sure cultural events are special

The year will soon start flying by, so plan your cultural events well ahead. This gives residents plenty of time to share their ideas and take part organising special days. It will also make sure you’re able to organise a meaningful event. Here are some great cultural programs running at services throughout Australia.

A residential service in Perth, Western Australia, recently shared that ‘food is everything to us and our residents’. They celebrate their love of food when national days come around. They recently celebrated Diwali by wearing traditional clothing and celebrating with Bollywood music, dancing and a huge feast of traditional Indian food prepared by the chef.
In country Victoria, a residential service chose the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament as a way to celebrate all the different cultures represented throughout the grand slam. Staff and residents were involved in a month of menu planning to showcase food from around the world, while gathering to enjoy the tennis.
An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men’s group in remote Queensland go fishing every month and often hunt dugong and turtle among other traditional meat. The group share some of what they catch with the service. The chef then prepares bush tucker for residents and involves Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents in cooking and learning from local Elders.