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    Joel Orchard: Small scale farmer and big future thinker

    What started out as an aspiration to be self sufficient, has evolved into a vision to grow and support young farmers into a profession that has enormous reward, alongside huge risk, immense challenges and a great deal of fulfillment. What’s more Joel can see the future in small-scale farming and has a vision for how

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    • It doesn’t look like much. One empty bucket and another of food scraps. And yet there’s so much more beyond this picture. . A few months ago I signed up to @sharewaste which is a website that connects people with compost bins to people without, but who would like to compost. . I searched for the closest house to me, which was less than 1km away, sent Sue a message, who then sent me her address. . I started dropping off food scraps every couple of days (into their yellow bucket on their driveway), usually on my way to drop or pick the kids up from school. . Being a pretty social person I was keen to meet Sue and thank her for kindly allowing me to drop off my food scraps, yet whenever I was on my own no one ever seemed to be home. . Over 2 months passed and we still hadn’t crossed paths. Until one day I drove up and saw Sue in her garden. Hence I went and said hi. . Like me, Sue had also been eager to meet and so it was wonderful to be greeted with such joy and gratitude, by both her and her husband. . They told me that my food scraps either feed their chickens or go into the compost which they use on their veggie garden or fruit trees on the verge. . As you can imagine, this fleeting interaction made my day. I am so very thankful knowing that my food scraps are being put to good use, instead of going to landfill. . Sharewaste have just released an App which makes it even easier to connect. If you’re not composting but want to I recommend you check it out 😁
    • It makes me very excited when I see councils adopt comprehensive local food policies/ food strategies. Cardinia Shire Council recently signed off their 3 year food strategy after a huge amount of community input and support and guidance from @sustainaustralia. I am hopeful that other councils will see the huge health, environmental, economic and social gains that can be made through food. Well done @cardiniafoodmovement ( #Repost @cardiniafoodmovement with @get_repost ・・・ Following 2 years of work, input from over 500 people thanks to our stellar team of Community Food Animators and volunteer scribes, workshopping with our collective of incredible partners, public exhibition of the draft and multiple submissions .... the Cardinia Community Food Strategy and Action Plan 2018 - 2026 was adopted at the Cardinia Shire Council meeting last night! ⠀ ⠀ With 67 actions and the commitment of over 20 organisations to lead or support the work we need to do to grow a healthy, delicious, sustainable and fair local food system. A huge thank you and congratulations to all involved - we are on our way! 👊🙌 🎉
    • I have an enormous amount of gratitude to be welcomed into a group of women farmers and small business owners for their annual Christmas gathering at @wildcanaryeat. Jacki from @blue_dog_farm invited me along and despite having so much to do before the kids finish school/ kindy for the year, I decided to choose good food and good company over work. And I’m so glad I did! It was an absolute joy to swap stories with such a passionate group of women at a cafe that supports and promotes local farmers and producers. I ordered the loop bowl which was a menu item celebrating the wonderful produce direct from small-scale farmers @loop.growers in Samford. Thank you @woggoon_farm @pretty.produce @scrumdiddliumptious_catering @9dorffarms @blackcroworganics @thesourcespringfield My heart is full ❤️
    • Consumer or citizen? Who am I? Why does it even matter? . On the outside we look the same. It’s on the inside where the differences are. A consumer mindset implies minimal, or no, connection to how food is grown and processed, and removes us from thinking more broadly about food and the impacts it has on things like the environment or the people involved in the food chain. With a citizen mindset we start to think about food more broadly than just something that we put in our mouths. We’re someone who is informed, and deliberate in our actions when it comes to food. . Becoming a food citizen starts when we check in with our values about what’s important to us. It starts with finding out what other options exist. This leads to becoming more engaged in building and supporting a healthy, sustainable and fair food system. That’s where our power exists as a food citizen. The power to influence the future of our food system for the better. So who are you? A consumer or a food citizen? . You can read the full article on my blog. Link is in bio ☝️🥕
    • The University of Melbourne has been working on a fantastic project for a number of years now known as Foodprint Melbourne, which explores why urban-fringe farming is so important for a cities food resilience. "To improve access to locally grown food and increase the resilience of food systems to climate change, we need to build mutually supportive relationships between cities and the growers on their fringes, so that farms thrive as our cities grow. The Foodprint Melbourne project has just released an infographic that showcases the mutually beneficial relationships that can be developed between cities and the farmers on their fringes." You can read all about it via the link in the bio ☝️ #unimelbourne #foodprint #sustainablecities #localfood
    • A new blog post is up where I share my experience of the Echo Valley Farm spring tour. Have you ever been on a farm tour before? Link is in bio ☝️
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