Local Food Connections

Alex Dekker was a uni student during the Covid pandemic and began making meals for his sister, a doctor working long shifts on a Covid ward. Then he offered via Facebook to make meals for anyone else who needed them. And what happened next was a story of the synergy that occurs when others with resources jump in to help. Now a social enterprise still working with others to offer people connection to each other and to services they need, Alex Makes Meals delivers nutritional meals to 4000 people every week.

In this episode I'm joined by artist, writer and podcaster Catie Payne. We chat about 'reskillience' - or reskilling for resilience in the face of political, economic, social and ecological collapse. Catie's podcast is also called Reskillience and you can navigate to it via Catie's website catie.com.au  The podcast has a great list of guests - the who's who of permaculture - and tantalising topics like Finding God in the Compost and Quitting Your Job and Working in Reciprocity. Each episode begins with delightful, poignant stories from Catie's life in which she tries to make sense of it all.  The Local Food Connections show thanks Formidable Vegetable for their song You Are What You Eat

Jordan Osmond of Happen Films and now of Folklore Pictures makes beautiful documentary films about people seeking better ways to live on the earth and with each other. In this episode Jordan tells about how the documentary films he watched in his youth were powerful in changing his perspective on social, political and economic issues, and how the subjects of the films he has since made have inspired him on his own journey to live ethically on the earth.Happen Films' feature film, The New Peasants, about the life of Meg, Patrick and their family, won Best Environmental Documentary at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival in 2025.https://www.happenfilms.com/Happen Films have featured people we have interviewed on the Local Food Connections show such as Kat Lavers, Meg Ulman and Patrick Jones. https://www.3cr.org.au/localfoodconnections/episode/people-care-permaculture-artist-familyhttps://www.3cr.org.au/localfoodconnections/episode/meg-ulman-artist-familyhttps://www.3cr.org.au/localfoodconnections/episode/hundreds-kilograms-food-small-urban-backyard-conversation-kat-lavers

Anthimos has been sleeping rough in Nillumbik for two and half years and has a unique perspective on the food system, local government, housing and the importance of communtiy networks for mutual aid. With his friend Molly and his canine companion, Amber, Anthimos joined us to share his experience, placing it firmly in the context of the current economic, cultural and political system.

This episode was first aired in June 2023 Angelo Eliades is a presenter, trainer and writer in the areas of sustainable gardening and Permaculture. Angelo's permaculture food forest in his suburban Melbourne backyard won a Darebin Sustainability Award and has been opened to the public by Open Gardens Australia. His work has been featured in the documentary film, Fair Food, in the DVD, UrbanPermaculture by leading Permaculture designer Geoff Lawton, and in the book, Fair Food: Stories from a Movement Changing the World published by Queensland University Press. Currently, Angelo writes for Good Organic Gardening Australia magazine. Angelo's website https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/(link is external) is dedicated to connecting people to nature and empowering them to live sustainably.

I'm joined today by Anisa Rogers. Anisa is part of the international Degrowth movement which promotes a shift away from endless economic growth toward sustainable and fair societies. Like this show, the movement emphasises local economies, democratic decision-making, and non-monetary exchanges to build community resilience. In this episode we begin by chatting about the recent Degrowth festival in Carlton North which showcased alternative food systems, housing and ways of organising, and also foregrounded the importance of celebration and conviviality in building not only communities but political and social movements.Local Food Connections thanks Formidable Vegetable for their song You Are What you Eat.

Anthony did the Park Run along the river at Warrandyte then dropped into the Food Swap, where we forced some lemons on him.  We chatted about how cool it is to grow food and give it away for free and got on to the subject of Anthony's Nonno who'd been doing this for years in his Fawkner garden. A few weeks later Anthony came on the show for a chat. We hope you enjoy it!

Justin Calverley is the author of The Urban Farmer and more recently The Urban Food Forester. He is a consultant, educator and media presenter who advocates sustainable gardening practices, emphasising 'the right plant in the right place', starting small, knowing your soil, and experimenting with what works where you are. Find out about Justin's next short course at CERES here:https://localfoodconnect.org.au/event/complete-urban-farmer/

Meg Ulman lives in Daylesford on a 1/4 acre permaculture plot that she has developed with her partner Patrick Jones over two decades, starting small and asking themselves what they could do without. Living as closely as they can to the permaculture principles, Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share, Meg, Patrick and their son Woody live on an income well below what a family their size could live on in the monetary economy. But their life is rich in time, beauty, connection to the food they eat and to the gift economy they have helped develop in the Hepburn region. Meg deeply values the skills she has learned since leaving the city and the slower pace of her permaculture life.https://artistasfamily.is/Local Food Connections thanks Formidable Vegetable for their song You are What you Eat.

Food Not Bombs is a global, grassroots movement rooted in the belief that access to food is a basic human right. By sharing food in public spaces, Food Not Bombs takes back the commons and challenges systems that prioritize profit and militarism over people. Volunteers such as today's guests Willow, Sasha and Mitch recover surplus food that would otherwise be thrown away and share free, plant-based meals with no questions asked. They explain how the movement operates through mutual aid rather than charity and has no central leadership. They describe the joy and satisfaction that comes from sharing meals they have cooked together with whatever ingredients are available to them.For more information about how to get involved and about changes that are underway go here: Their fundraiser for the fitout for the new kitchen https://chuffed.org/project/catalyst-social-centre-new-homeWhere people can find info about Catalyst (and how to become a subscriber) https://catalystcentre.net/subscribe/?recurring=trueFNB linktree with links to socials, website, etc  https://linktr.ee/fnb_naarm?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio