The local food retail environment influenced the how and why people accessed food. This related to the geographical design of the local area, food retailers that were easy to get to, co-located with other food retailers, distance from home or work, traffic, and ease of parking.

Cars were the main form of transportation to access food. Public transport: access was described as inadequate and too hard to use when grocery shopping.

People living in smaller towns across Cardinia mainly used local independent food outlets. In contrast, people in larger populated areas of Cardinia described limited number of local food specialty retailers.

Major supermarket chains were mainly used due to convenience, lack of other alternatives, price and familiarity.

Farmers markets and fruit and vegetable social enterprises were used by some people. These were an affordable alternative to larger supermarkets providing quality and variety of produce, but were limited in their opening hours and locations across Cardinia.

Personal financial circumstances were crucial to food purchase decision making. People were very conscious of their money and tightly managed their finances by juggling competing costs and money for food.

This juggle determined where people shopped and types and brands of food that were within their budget. In weeks when money was not as tight this allowed for bulk buying of more costly food items such as meat or food from specialty stores.

Having a car, adequate time, enough storage space and functioning cooking and storage hardware influenced the frequency of shopping for food, what food was purchased, and the types of and variety of meals prepared.

For people experiencing impaired physical and/or mental wellbeing this often impacted income and food decisions, access and preparation.