Growing Change

A recent community event celebrated School Food Security Awards and leadership in community food initiatives.

The Goulburn Valley Food Cooperative ‘s food security event was combined with the launch of the Australian Grown Food Company’s first locally made pasta and sauce range. It was the culmination of much hard work and inspiration in the Goulburn Valley region. Why is this noteworthy? Because the response of the local community of Girgarre, faced with the impact of Heinz closing their tomato sauce production in the region created the potential for rural catastrophe. The fact that champions emerged to consider and develop an approach to turn disaster into opportunity speaks to the spirit and creative leadership abilities of those who did so.

So on a stormy day the Kyabram event saw people attend from far and wide. Speaking at the School Food Security Awards part of the program I noted how society is now facing serious issues in planning for the future of food production and distribution in Australia. The ability of the community to access healthy and nutritious food into the future requires a strategy that places the community at the centre of deciding what food we want produced and where and how we want it produced.

The question that is asked to assess food security is ‘Have you run out of food or the money to buy it in the last 12 months?’ but it doesn’t address the quality of food that we need to thrive. In Victoria around 6% of people say yes to this question and it is higher in regional areas.

The situation in the Goulburn Valley has highlighted how important food growing and manufacturing is to regional communities. The Australian Government has a new National Food Plan that wants us to be the food bowl of Asia, but it says little about the opportunities for youth to be part of the careers of the future in food production. However there is huge potential in regional communities for those career choices.

There are already challenges for our younger generation with low rates of fruit and vegetable intake, a rapidly escalating obesity rate and rocketing incidence of type 2 diabetes and allergies.  But the exciting thing is that once more people are rediscovering an interest in food growing and this is occurring across many different groups in the community. One of the largest groups is the younger generation. Kids are starting to learn about food growing in school gardens thanks to leaders like Alice Waters in the US, Jamie Oliver in the UK and Stephanie Alexander in Australia.

At a government level here there is support for programs such as the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program and Healthy Communities Initiatives such as Healthy Together Bendigo that includes a focus on supporting schools. There are currently 24 schools and early childhood centres in Bendigo that have some form of food growing activity, and that is but one regional community. Programs such as the Edible Classrooms program plus lots of smaller school based efforts all revolve around the principle of grow, pick and eat.

We know that when people grow their own food they increase their intake of fruit and vegetables and that is very important in promoting health and preventing illness later in life.

When food literacy is taught as a life skill in schools the ability to plan, grow, shop and cook food increases and we see more resilient and healthy adults which can only be a good thing for the future of our communities.

The Kyabram event showcased the ten successful schools and their projects to be funded, including: Numurkah Secondary college, Mansfield Secondary College, McGuire College Shepparton, St Augustine’s College Kyabram, St Mary’s Primary School Rushworth, Wilmot Road Primary School, Lancaster Primary School, Murchison Primary School, Undera Primary School and Verney Road School Shepparton.

We heard from students of plans for state of the art commercial kitchen centres, food security education projects, a Vegie Patch to Dinner Plate program, a Food Revolution including permaculture, low food miles and ethical food choices, a food science kitchen, school garden establishment, including chooks and orchards and bush tucker gardens, the Undera master chef event, creation of gardener starter kits, and breakfast, kitchen garden, cooking and harvest day celebrations planned. There was even a presentation on the history of scarecrows! The pride, enthusiasm and excitement of the kids presenting their ideas and projects was something to behold. With this sort of activity the food system may be in good hands in the future.

The lucky schools who received grants to assist them on the path to food security are creating history in the Goulburn Valley region and the Goulburn Valley Food Coop is showing tremendous vision and leadership in encouraging such an inspiring range of school based projects.  It’s also an opportunity for all of the schools to keep communicating their successes and create a regional success story that can provide inspiration to others. Perhaps a virtual regional schools food hub could be one outcome?

Over the past few months a focus of Growing Change has been developing a big idea to value add to all of the great Local Community Food Initiatives underway in Bendigo.

The local food scene features many community gardens, community farmers market, school gardens, city farm and food box scheme, urban food growing and cooking and preserving collaborations, fruit gleaning, food aid and ideas for food vans and more.

Following this an opportunity emerged for a collaboration to respond to the challenge of increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and developing a culture of healthy eating, via the VicHealth Seed Challenge  . My Growing Change response is the idea for Edible Bendigo (see link to infogram below), with a vision of the whole city sharing enthusiasm for growing, preparing and eating fresh fruit and vegetables, and with Bendigo Edible Enterprises being an overarching vehicle proposed for supporting community food enterprises, supported by a broad consortium of organisations and businesses.

A digital component to create an Online Kitchen Hub would act as a portal and coordination point for all events and activities, ideas and contacts as well as being a link to Kitchen Elders, trained volunteers who could provide explanations of basic cooking skills and techniques.

Another component of the idea is that creating a culture of healthy eating entails making healthy choices easy, and this could be achieved via a +1 Fresh campaign theme throughout Bendigo Edible Enterprises’ activities in the community.  Its food for thought … and, hopefully, action as well.

The Healthy Together Bendigo program , involving the City of Greater Bendigo and Bendigo Community Health Services, came up with an idea to encourage ideas and innovation to support healthy eating community food initiatives via a Food Forum.  This saw an afternoon of dynamic and excited conversations earlier this week that has added to the buzz around food in Bendigo and started a process of mapping collaborations, current and potential.

Using an Open Source process the community were keen to talk about the following issues: Soil and compost, Edible food waste, Food as a tool of communication, Food education, Food-scapes, Sustainable production, Producer to consumer, Community participation, Community gardens, Community kitchens, Maintaining affordability, Inspiring behaviour change, Involving rural communities, Sharing of the surplus, Collaborative supply, Building skills, Urban bee keeping, Food in the public realm, Food safety/food regulations, How to access funding in schools and groups, Creating employment around food, Food for fun, Urban agriculture facilitator in Council, How to garden without funding, Urban livestock, Volunteer private land use – home gardens etc, Young people and primary production….an amazing response.

Action resulting from all of these ideas that are fermenting currently could enable improved fruit and vegetable supply and access, developing a sustainable and replicable prototype of healthy eating in Bendigo, and in addition further the creation of a strong and resilient community, able to face future climatic variability.  A regional plan for a local food system less vulnerable to the emerging challenges of climate change is the next step.

Edible Bendigo

The communal table. A melting pot of health and social inclusion was the title of a paper I presented recently at the Symposium of Australian Gastronomy. It fitted with the theme of The Generous Table and the focus on food and culture of the symposium.  My reflections centred on the fact that food is meant to nourish us, being a powerful way to create a sense of place. It can also help develop the vital relationships and social intimacy that many of us can be fortunate to share with those we love.

The revival in popularity in dining at the communal table reflects the rapid change in Australian society, the café culture and a more connected and engaged community, according to some.

Historically the Incas, Greeks, Britons and French were famed for a more egalitarian manner of dining and in the last century communal meals and public eating houses and factory and railway dining were part of an informal economy where often times strangers took their place at table to share a meal. Cultural traditions such as the Indian langars, free kitchens, provide meals for all and also are a means of fostering inclusiveness and at the same time removing caste barriers.

Starting with covered markets in the tenth century, food has often been the focus of public health initiatives. Closer to home some governments have a history of innovation in supporting healthy eating, such as the Victorian Department of Human Services’ Community Gardens Program. Similarly pilot community kitchens in Victoria were a concept recognised as a successful preventative health initiative and a means of bringing people together, particularly when on limited incomes, to address social and nutritional needs.

Community kitchens are now being trailed on public housing estates, such as the Atherton Melting Pot project in Fitzroy, providing the opportunity for a range of activities from cooking classes, seasonal cook ups, community programs and cultural feasts.

Community lunches are also popular and in places such as Castlemaine the weekly $3 lunch provided by the Community House’s Growing Abundance Harvest Project caters for up to 100 people, happy to meet and chat over donated fresh fruit and vegies that have been transformed by volunteer chefs.

We have the knowledge, skills and enthusiasm to reposition gastronomic activities in the community and particularly to find a place at the table for those who are marginalised and unrepresented.  Nutritional intake can be matched with socially meaningful arrangements as a preventative health tool par excellence. A progressive attitude by local, state and federal governments could see regional food plans, with local food policies and the formation of local food policy councils to oversee Local Community Food Initiatives. One specific focus  would be on communal tables and better use of facilities throughout the country that could be reconfigured as community kitchens.

We can remake cities in a more food and health conscious way, enabling conviviality by eating together while at the same time remaking our local towns and cities by making better use of the public realm. Dining together is the key.

Traditions relating to food are increasingly being celebrated in Australia’s cultural melting pot, providing many exciting opportunities to experience tastes and flavours, both exotic and accessible.

Food has a central role in many community activities and special events and is an essential component of hospitality. Where green tea was the entry point for communication in my time in VietNam, in India my recent experience was that chai was the equivalent entry point. It was a demonstration of individual and regional difference in what may appear a simple recipe for spiced tea. A far cry from the powdered chai latte prevalent here. The nuances and special touches in recipes were prized and respected. Similarly here, a unique flavour to foods and recipes is one way to celebrate diversity. Without a diverse range of foods available not only are we nutritionally worse off, but culturally as well. In many communities around the world even when the makings of meals prove light on quantities, great importance is placed on the artistry, love, generosity and pride expressed in bringing food to the table, particularly for visitors.

In Victoria Cultural Diversity Week March 16 – 24^th includes National Harmony Day on March 21^st and the exciting concept of a Taste of Harmony – where in workplaces around Victoria people can come together to share food and stories from different cultural backgrounds.

Despite food rituals and traditions in Australia growing in popularity there is still scope for greater festivity around food, especially when that includes a wide and varied range of foods and celebrations.  It doesn’t have to be a huge organised festival, but a smaller local celebration of the produce and associated activities unique to one region or community. Seasonal bounties and the associated harvest festivals often provide the conduit for this type of community interaction overseas. In a previous blog I have shown how in Mexico radishes are celebrated in novel ways. Perhaps more citrus festivals would be beneficial to the farmers in northern Victoria who forsake their orange crops due to lack of markets.

There are some who criticise this level of interest in food as an obsession. Indeed, it was the theme for a debate at this year’s Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.  Perhaps the proposition should be how we create a healthy interest in sustainable and just food systems, something being addressed by the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance’s People’s Food Plan Working Paper just released. In the process of creating food policy relevant to communities of the future it is possible to invest in the revival of lost food-related knowledge and skills and the production and celebration of diverse varieties of seasonal produce in a manner that is accessible to everyone.

As the first year of Growing Change draws to a close the Backyard Pharmacy at Maison Bleue is bursting with summer growth.

Mr Quin’s garlic has just been harvested and will make a tasty addition in many and varied styles of cooking. The girls have been faithful in their supply of gorgeous googs and the first Toolangi Delights were savoured for Xmas. It has been a year of garden experimentation and much learning. Growing veg successfully from seed has been a momentous achievement.  Much exercise has been had chasing chooks off productive gardens and building structures to enclose the growing goodies. The first attempt at bottling olives shows there is an art to olive preservation and pickles and ferments and preserving seasonal bounty are now firmly on the calendar. There has been the acquisition of a canning outfit and now a food dehydrator, which will provide the solution to keeping summer harvests for winter use.

2013 will see some new activities, including ‘Preserving the Neighbourhood’ – more about that in the New Year. Involvement with Incredible Edible Eaglehawk has seen the fledgling idea receive fertilisation in the form of a small grant to kick off activities next year and the Bendigo Community Food Network is alive with small projects, initiatives and interests, all of which add up to a new and resilient food culture in Bendigo and surrounds.

Meanwhile further afield it has been a busy time for the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance and the national round of community consultations that have informed the soon to be released draft People’s Food Plan. Participatory democracy is looking strong for those who see the importance of the food system and its relevance to climate change in the future and are keen to get their hands dirty. Around Australia people are turning not only to home grown produce, but sharing backyards, joining community groups to grow food in available spaces, learn how to preserve abundance, keep chooks or bees, save and swap seeds, compost kitchen waste to create healthy soils, and are growing surplus intentionally for preserving for those who lack access to healthy food and in the process learning to savour a slower, fairer, cleaner food culture.

All of this is presupposed on a climate that will be kind to those producing food, which is not always the case. The environment and diversity of plant and animal species are of paramount importance as the impacts of a changing climate are being reckoned with. The Climate and Health Alliance is leading the way in Australia in providing a vehicle for closer examination of the health impacts of climate change. Conservation of our life support systems needs our help. In 2013 this will be a focus, along with one on the blending of food production issues with long-term biodiversity conservation as a true reflection of the quadruple bottom line, that is inclusive of health and wellbeing.

How the food localisation and ecofrugalist movement is setting the agenda for preventing loss and waste in the food system

In a previous Growing Change blog, Seasons awry. Cherries in winter and forsaken oranges the issue of food loss and waste was raised. As we look for ways to decrease our carbon footprint there are a multitude of reasons to examine the issue further. The Malthusian line promoting the need for a productionist ethos of food growing to feed a world of more than 9 billion by 2050 needs revision, as it ignores the fact that we currently produce enough food in the world to feed everyone, yet nearly a billion people are undernourished. More of the same approach to food production and distribution in the future will make the task that much harder.

It is a sad fact that much food is lost after harvest or wasted as we worship at the alter of convenience and cheap commodities. Australians waste more than $5 billion worth of fresh food per year and the tragedy of this is that while that happens around 5% of people still go hungry around the country. Now some efficiencies are being made in food supply and distribution chains, with supermarkets supplying surplus food to food rescue organisations such as Food Bank, Second Bite and FareShare, bringing fresh produce or meals made from rescued food to those in need of a feed.

Food and its nutrients are too good to waste. The recently released US report Wasted. How America is losing up to 40% of its food from Farm to Fork to Landfill says “Even the most sustainably farmed food does us no good if the food is never eaten. Getting food to our tables eats up 10 percent of the total U.S. energy budget, uses 50 percent of U.S. land, and swallows 80 percent of freshwater consumed in the United States. Yet, 40 percent of food in the United States today goes uneaten”. Here in Australia the situation is probably comparable.

At the local government level a Yarra City Council waste audit found that up to 52.6% of domestic bin waste is organics. So what options do we have to minimise our impact on the environment from emissions generated when organic waste goes to landfill? One waste strategy with enormous buy-in currently is for large scale composting. Working in my previous role with Cultivating Community in recent years showed what can be achieved when the council and community and organisations come together to brainstorm solutions that turn “kitchen waste into garden gold”, as we used to say.

Ideas developed from the original Compost Mates project linking cafes with residents in the City of Yarra, who turned the waste to home compost, leading to a larger scale Neighbourhood Based Community Composting project, now with support from state government as well. This will see a closed loop demonstration project evolve from the community composting initiative in addition to community members learning not only the intricacies of compost creation, but also about better planning and shopping to reduce food waste. The ability to team with a city farm and restaurants has potential for food to be grown for restaurants and the waste collected and composted and used to enrich soil for new crops and fresh and tasty produce. And if they provide us with greenhouse growing lights for commercial uses, the crops and the produce will grow with much more ease than if they only had access to normal lighting. Win-win-win.

The Compost Champions initiative, on the Collingwood housing estate was another innovative initiative and a good way to include the community, local services and government departments with environment and urban agriculture activities to develop composting on the estate. Those involved became champions within their community to further spread the learning and behaviour change around food waste.

Compost has had such an elevated status and level of community interest that, with the help of composting enthusiast and all-round food growing aficionado, Costa, the Composters’ Composium was held by Cultivating Community in Fitzroy in 2011 to mark International Composting Awareness Week, providing hundreds in the community with a fun event of compost competitions, workshops, a ‘compost-off’ race, stalls, food and music (even the mayor was involved) – all in all a great community event. Its an idea that could take off around the country, given half a chance.

At The Backyard Pharmacy at Maison Bleue Costa’s composting tips have been put to great use by Monsieur le Composteur and we have 3 bays built from wooden pellets. Its an ongoing experiment of sources of carbon and nitrogen and their correct mix – all the while a worm-rich soil goes to the next crops of seasonal goodies and occasional treats for The Girls.

A Growing Change in community attitudes has led to countless blogs and sharing of composting tips and ideas. For example, did you know that the fall leaves that cover your garden and make a mess can be composted? Most people will gather them into piles and leave them there. However, new composting tips suggest buying a husqvarna backpack leaf blower and gathering these stray leaves before composting them. Eventually, they can then be used to help other areas of the garden grow. So get involved as we fertilise the future and realise the power of local action. It can have a tremendous impact in reducing waste and mitigating climate change, at the same time allowing us to improve our ability to grow healthy and nutritious fresh produce.