One of the biggest barriers to a healthy diet is understanding what to eat for optimal health – and how to budget for it.

This was the thinking behind a recent CCA health promotion initiative that saw the reorganisation of the canteen list into major food groups to make it easier for prisoners to understand their food choices.

A booklet has been created that contains multiple examples of a single $49 weekly budget or group $294 weekly budget based on the traffic light system (60% to spend on green foods, 30% on yellow foods and 10% on red foods).

Using the budgets created, the booklet also shows what that budget could make for breakfast, lunch and dinner while meeting the Australian Dietary Guidelines. There are weekly meal plans from peak body organisations including the Dietitians Association of Australia and recipes from a variety of reputable sources with all ingredients easily available to prisoners.