Community food organisations will receive a boost with a small grants program to help them grow, prepare and share food, as part of the National Food Plan which will be released this Saturday.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig, announced the $1.5 million small grants program while visiting Northey Street City Farm with Labor Candidate for Brisbane, Fiona McNamara, today.

“It’s fantastic to see local communities like Brisbane growing, preparing and sharing food,” Minister Ludwig said.

“The Gillard Government will provide grants of up to $25,000 to support farmers markets, community gardens, city farms, food hubs, cooperatives and food rescue service projects to start up and expand.

“These organisations widen our access to new and interesting foods, support better health and lifestyles, increase food knowledge and support jobs by providing alternative ways to market products.

“Australia has an…

"In order to feed our world without destroying it, an holistic type of agriculture is needed, and we have a choice. Here we compare the current high-input industrial system with a renewed vision for agriculture: the agroecological system. [...]

Agroecological strategies can better feed the world, fight climate change and poverty, and protect soil and water while maintaining healthy, liveable communities and local economies. Industrial agriculture contributes to climate change, malnutrition and ecosystem degradation around the planet. It has not delivered on its promise to feed the world."

A message from the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA):

Dear friends,

You may be able to help the move to create a unique community orchard and garden in the patch of the Adelaide Parklands between the Bowden development on Park Tce and the North Adelaide Railway station and to support community calls for an ongoing education role for the site, giving the community at large and particularly schools the opportunity to see sustainable food production in action in the suburbs and build skills to empower citizens to grow their own food, particularly with recycled water and composted urban green-waste.

You can support the call for the community orchard and garden by attending the Open Day on the site organised by Renewal SA on 23rd Feb and chat to the project designers  and can also comment online to Renewal SA’s call for responses to the draft plan for the area.

It is worth noting that the draft design is somewhat ambiguous about the community orchard part of the proposal. I believe that it is important…

The Urban Farming Guidebook is written to help planners, engineers, and administrators from small and large communities to gain a better understanding of the potential, pitfalls, and best practices for growing, potentially raising, and selling food within town boundaries. While it is written for a British Columbian context, it still contains significant resources for developing urban agriculture in South Australia. Strategies and approaches outlined in the Guidebook provide local governments with tools to proactively plan for urban farming. This resource has been developed in collaboration and consultation with urban farmers, municipal staff, academics, and advocates.

The…