Maggie Beer, Australia’s culinary icon, has built a reputation on the promise of wholesome, comforting food. Through her Maggie Beer Foundation (MBF), she has positioned herself as a champion of aged care dining, pledging to tackle malnutrition that affects a significant proportion of residents, as highlighted by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
With her infectious enthusiasm and celebrity appeal, Beer has secured millions in government funding, most notably a $5 million grant in 2023 to improve food in aged care.
Yet as she now seeks another $15.3 million to continue her programs, the evidence suggests her initiatives have had limited reach, leaving taxpayers funding a largely symbolic effort.
Gourmet funding, rationed results
Since 2014, the government has invested over $7.1 million into the MBF.
Highlights include $500,000 between 2017 and 2019 for online training modules, $600,000 in 2019 for instructional videos, nearly $300,000 in 2020 for a two-day food congress, and the 2023 $5 million grant for the Improving Food in Aged Care through Education and Training program, which included six new videos and the Trainer Mentor Program (TMP).
An additional $1.7 million in 2024 helped sustain the program. Despite this funding, the impact has been limited.
The 2023 grant promised to upskill cooks and chefs across Australia’s 2,700 aged care homes. Yet by August 2025, the TMP had reached only 135 facilities, just 5 per cent of the sector.
Beer’s latest proposal would extend the program to 216 more homes by 2029, still leaving the vast majority untouched. This is a boutique initiative presented as systemic change while most residents continue to face the same challenges.
The bittersweet reality
Beer’s message is appealing. Nutritious, flavoursome meals can improve the lives of elderly Australians. But the reality is less impressive. Programs funded through the MBF have not consistently translated into meaningful change. In 2019, the $600,000 training videos, intended as a free resource, came with a $480 price tag, $44 per half-hour module, restricting access for smaller providers and home carers.
The content itself has also been criticised. A 2024 Department of Health webinar highlighted that some online modules were impractical for typical aged care kitchens, featuring ingredients and techniques beyond the capacity of many cooks. Many participants discontinued the training after one session due to its limited applicability. The TMP, while better received, remains small in scope and available only to select facilities.
Meanwhile, malnutrition persists. Reports from 2022 show that a third of providers spend less than $10 per resident per day on food despite a $700 million annual government supplement. Images of uninspiring meals, greasy chips, limp nuggets, and grey mush, illustrate the ongoing gap between funding promises and real outcomes.
Beer’s response has often been more advocacy than measurable change. Her 2024 ABC series, Maggie Beer’s Big Mission, showcased a single Perth facility, offering a polished example rather than systemic progress.
Health economist Stephen Duckett warned in 2022 that the government has relied on Beer’s celebrity to create an impression of progress, diverting attention from underlying problems.
Questions of focus and accountability
Critics have also raised concerns about the commercial aspects of Beer’s initiatives. MBF programs are costly and Maggie Beer Holdings, where she is a director, posted a $4.4 million loss in December 2024. Previous issues, such as the 2014 ACCC reprimand for misleading product labelling, have led some to question whether image management sometimes overshadows impact.
Government support has also been questioned. Dietitians Australia argued that the 2023 $5 million grant would have been better spent on employing dietitians to oversee menus rather than funding celebrity-led workshops. Yet funding continued without adequate auditing, leaving uncertainty over how much reached actual improvements in meals.
Both the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and the Maggie Beer Foundation were approached for comment regarding the financial outlay and the return on investment of the MBF’s initiatives. However, the Department of Health failed to respond, while the Maggie Beer Foundation declined to answer any direct questions.
Instead, the Maggie Beer Foundation offered up a generic website link detailing their Training and Education Programs for cooks, chefs, and aged care providers.
Funnily enough, what stood out most in their email response was the line, “Apologies for the delay in getting back to you—we’ve been very busy with training.” This comment, the precursor to refusing to answer any direct questions about funding or outcomes, felt like little more than a hollow excuse, reinforcing the sense that much of the Foundation’s efforts are more about appearances than meaningful outcomes.
Time for a new menu
Maggie Beer’s dedication to food and her desire to make a difference are not in doubt. But after more than a decade and millions of taxpayer dollars, the results have been boutique rather than broad. The sector cannot afford more glossy pilots and symbolic gestures while malnutrition remains entrenched.
It is time for government and providers to move beyond celebrity-led initiatives and invest in scalable, evidence-based solutions: dietitians embedded in services, enforceable food standards, transparent auditing and accessible, practical training for every aged care kitchen.
Maggie Beer’s heart may be in the kitchen, but her foundation’s track record is a stale disappointment. Let’s clear the table and serve our elderly something that actually nourishes them.
