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Advocating for Change

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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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    • Looking through the final version of the Cardinia Food Strategy brings me so much joy!
Launched last week, the the Cardinia Shire’s vision is a healthy, delicious, sustainable and fair food system for all its residents. 
Its key objective is increased access to affordable, healthy food by 2026. 
How is it going to achieve this?
1. Protect and utilise fertile land as a source of fresh food for current and future generations
2. Grow a vibrant local food economy which supports growers and enables people to access locally produced food
3. Enhance food knowledge, skills and culture within schools, workplaces, clubs and the wider community 
4. Reduce and divert food waste from landfill and reuse water to grow
All it is at this stage is just words on paper.  But this document provides direction.  It shows leadership.  It shows the need to work across policy area’s instead of just sticking to the usual silos.  It shows what can happen when a Council talks to their community and really listens to what they want. 
This document was the result of 2 years work with input from over 500 people through kitchen table conversations.
I share this here because I believe that all councils have a responsibility for prioritising a similar vision for their residents. 
Talk to your local Councillor about why you believe your council would greatly benefit if they invested in more local food systems. 
The more we speak up, the greater chance we have of being heard.
    • I look at land so differently these days. Especially after reading Charles Massey’s book Call of the Reed Warbler (well half of it. I’m still making my way through it 😁). This land feeds and sustains us. Without it we are in serious trouble.
Sure, the rate of innovation is great at present with food being “grown” in Petri dishes, or in vertical gardens inside shipping containers, or even adding insects to our menus. 
I just can’t get my head around it though. Food comes from the earth. From the soil. There is a connection with all of nature with food production. 
Which is why our land really is so precious. 
Which is why we need to protect what arable land we have left and take care of it. 
Stop clearing it. Stop spraying it with chemicals. Stop degrading it. Stop hurting it. 
Our food comes from the land. 
I think many of us have forgotten this. 
Where our food comes from is likely the furtherest thing from our minds when we’re blinded by the bright lights at the supermarkets. 
We’ve lost that connection. 
And because of that it’s easy for us not to connect the dots between what we put it our mouths (multiple times a day) to the soil in which it’s been grown. 
One great place to start is to learn more about regenerative agriculture and support farmers who grow and produce food using these methods. 
Because we can’t make more land. But we can nurture, respect and regenerate the land we’ve got. 
I have enormous gratitude to the farmers who take on this extremely important role of taking care of the land for us, and future generations. 🙏
    • Learning. Learning. Learning.  Always Learning. 
I picked up this gem from the @statelibraryqld today after @robertpekin recommended it to me.  It’s nearly 20 years old but at first glance it still looks like an extremely useful resource for those wanting to set up a CSA.
One of the best ways to support farmers is to buy direct from them through a CSA scheme.  Community Supported Agriculture is a model of food production and distribution that directly connects farmers and eaters - people buy shares in a farm's projected harvest in advance and for a set period (a season, or a year, for example) and receive regular deliveries. 
In Australia, the best place to find a CSA near you is on the @csaausnz website. They have a comprehensive directory of all the CSA farms so I recommend checking it out.  Comment below if you’re involved in a CSA.  I’d love to know 😄
    • How cool is this?  Mt Alvernia is a secondary school in Brisbane and over the past few years the school underwent a huge rebuild and renovation. .
As part of this huge transformation within the school, the Principal decided to put a community garden front and centre in the school grounds. .
The community garden is part of the learning environment along with being a productive landscape. .
Produce from the garden is used in the school canteen and also the home economics facilities. .
Another huge benefit is that it helps to bring calm to the minds of young people when anxiety levels are on the rise. .
Imagine if there were no barriers to school’s being able to establish gardens and maintain them to allow our kids to have access to the enormous benefits of growing their own food?
    • I’m not usually accustomed to taking photos of my workspace but today is different. Today I’ve started using the co-working space at @foodconnectbrisbane which is super exciting. When you work for yourself it can feel pretty isolating sitting at a computer all day at your dining room table. But now I get to spend my time in a space that represents so much more than just a desk. As an advocate for healthier, sustainable and fairer food systems it’s a honour to work from a place which is a shining example of just that. Thank you @emmakate_rose and @robertpekin! I look forward to many more tea room chats 😊
    • Being in Melbourne for @festival21_ and staying with a friend in Brunswick meant I got the chance to briefly stop into @ceresjoesmarketgarden just before my flight, which was a fabulous way to end my time away. . 
While I sat in the shade and soaked up some jazz I reflected on yesterday’s event. The words that came up time and time again at f21 rang in my ears. .
Community and connection. . 
festival21 brought together a community of doers, not just talkers. 
A community who believe in the power of the people. 
A community who show immense respect for the needs and rights of Indigenous people, their culture and their land. 
A community who value good health. The environment. Our farmers. Our migrant communities. Our vulnerable communities. 
A community who are so passionate about transforming the food system for the better. 
A community that I am proud to be apart of.
.
And then there was connection. 
Connection to the the land. 
Connection to each other. 
Connection to where our food comes from. 
And most importantly, a connection to wanting to leave this world a better place than which we found it for our kids. .
Thanks f21 for putting together an immense and varied program to showcase the amazing work that is currently going on to create food systems change.
    Copyright 2019 Our Food System