As the saying goes ‘it’s been a long time between drinks’ – Well overdue, the prompt to get active with this blog again is this week’s second national Fair Food Week. It follows last year’s inaugural Fair Food Week, the idea for which came about after the successful nationwide consultations for the development of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance’s (AFSA) People’s Food Plan discussion paper.
To date there are more than 80 events organised and underway around the country with themes including: Beyond the trolley; Support your community fair food projects and groups; Grow our urban agriculture and Support gasfield-free communities.
Locally we have some great events – in Bendigo we have the annual Spring Fair at our local Old Church on the Hill community garden hub, where the proceeds will add to the funds for establishing a shared feast space and community kitchen.
In Harcourt the Mt Alexander Fruit Gardens folk are holding a free fruit-growing workshop.
We can make food access fairer with a Local Food Act. AFSA and the Food Alliance in Victoria have been lobbying for an Ontario-style Local Food Act for Victoria. Its objectives are:
• Support our food economy, our local farmers and food businesses
• Increase access to healthy and local food for all Victorians
• Provide healthy food education for Victoria’s children and youth
• Enhance ecosystems by supporting sustainable farming practices
• Protect our fertile food bowl regions and
• Connect people to food via funding for a wide range of food initiatives
And you can sign our change.org petition in support of action.
A substantial Victorian Local Food Fund, part of the Local Food Act advocacy, might support innovative local food initiatives such as:
• Local producers selling into local markets – ‘Farmers Markets / Food Hubs and Community Food Centres / on-farm diversification’ etc
• Urban agriculture and related initiatives
• Local Food Networks, education and food literacy initiatives
• Community food kitchens, Emergency Food Relief, financial assistance programs, fundraising events, social enterprise and other forms of food security empowerment initiatives
This investment can better support our local food farmers, create job opportunities and stimulate economic development, particularly in regional Victoria. Here in Bendigo the emphasis needs to be significantly focused on enabling people experiencing disadvantage to have improved access and availability of fresh and healthy produce. With a third of the community living below the poverty line the challenges of eating well are being discussed and solutions sought. Support for local producers and Local Community Food Initiatives can play a major role and will go a long way to achieving the goal of access to fresh and healthy food for all.
Want to learn more about what can be done to support people in need of emergency financial assistance? For further information and resources, check out this useful guide from GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/c/blog/emergency-financial-assistance.
Remember to stay tuned to our website for future updates about similar events that are designed to raise funds for people living in poverty.
