The Future of Local Food

Over three generations, the Abbott Smith family on Graceburn Farm has aimed to create a balance between conservation, primary production and life-style on their 130 hectare property situated in the Yea Valley. Our ecologically sustainable farming practices produce food products, which are appropriately integrated with the maintenance, improvement and conservation of our environment and biodiversity. This balance between agricultural land uses and ecological conservation is made possible with the use of high tech electric fencing, reticulated stock watering systems, land class fencing, native wildlife wetlands, stock exclusion areas and local EVC (ecological vegetation class) revegetation works.

We would like to demonstrate how relationships and trust helped us deliver three exciting pilots in the Surf Coast Shire in 2015 and helped us to create a local food movement. The Good Fish Project, Local Food Loop (a local food app the connect farmers, chefs and consumers to local food and Eat Local Month - a month long celebration of local food in the Surf Coast Shire that engaged 1500 people and $150,000 in revenue for local businesses) and Eat Throw Grow - Jan Juc shopping precinct organic waste, worm farm and food growing pilot.

Born and bred in Tasmania, Tino’s lifelong interest in plants and gardening stems from growing up on his family’s small vineyard and olive grove. He studied landscape design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and has an Associate Diploma in Horticulture. He is involved in the Feeding the Future Coalition, conducting accredited training at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Garden, as well as working with the local Aboriginal Cultural Centre and various other community groups.

Currently Nillumbik Shire Council and Banyule City Council partner to deliver the Home Harvest Feast. The Feast aims to celebrate local food, the home grower and create better connectivity through the conversation of food. Growers donate home grown produce, we collect it and with the help of community cooks and recently VCE Hospitality students create a two course local seasonal vegetarian meal. The Feast draws approx. 350 to the meal and is now in its fifth year.

Obesity is a complex issue caused by multiple factors, many of which are beyond an individual’s control. To meet this challenge, Healthy Together Victoria (HTV) is taking a complex systems approach to prevention, delivering multiple policies and strategies at both state and local government level where all Victorians live, learn, work and play. There is a key focus on healthy eating through multiple interventions which address food supply, food access, health literacy as well as new collaborations between non health and the health sector via the Victorian Healthy Eating Enterprise. To date an estimated 680,000 Victorians have been reached, across 1,300 early childhood services, 582 primary schools, 123 secondary schools and almost almost 800 Victorian workplaces. It is applying an approach to prevention that creates healthier environments that are sustainable and embedded in existing community and organisation systems.

My Smart Garden is a collaboration between Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong and Moonee Valley City Councils, and aims to mitigate climate change impacts and increase the health, wellbeing and resilience of our residents by helping them to produce fruit and veg, shade their houses with deciduous trees, recycle wastes and provide habitat. There are some great lessons to be shared about the potential of food production in urban backyards and how councils can work together to deliver these programs efficiently.

Tammi is the President of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance. As well as answering questions about Fair Food – The Documentary, Tammi will also discuss her recent 3 week fair food tour of the United States. A former vegetarian academic, Tammi now does whole-carcass butchering on the farm, sells pork and beef at the farm gate and online through a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) model and delivers monthly to hubs in Melbourne and the region.

Poor access to affordable nutritious food often leads to an increased consumption of cheaper energy dense nutrient poor alternatives. The aim of the Street Harvest project in Murrindindi shire was to increase access to nutritious foods for those who could not afford it as well as developing gardening and food preparation skills. Taking a social determinants perspective to nutrition provides an equitable response through producing environments that support the consumption of healthy food. The Lower Hume Street Harvest Project provides an example of a social determinants approach to local food access with numerous lessons to share regarding community based health promotion.

The Sage concept originated from farmer Chris Balazs from La Finca farm. He originally wanted to process his own premium Hereford cattle for family and friends and maybe sell at a farmers market or two. Four years on however and Sage has grown to supply its highly sought after meat from 7 different family farms who each share the vision of locally produced and ethically raised animals.

Adam shares some fundamentals of design thinking that are useful in any situation, and the experience of tuning into people and landscape to create permaculture inspired urban designs. This will include designing to microclimates, designing to flows of people and materials, and designing to make functional connections.