2018 brings forth an exciting collection of monthly talk series to be held on the farm. These nights will include and involve local and young regenerative farmers, innovative people working in food, food waste and sustainability in fun/friendly discussions and panels. Our goal is to create a community of mindful humans through connectivity and shared experience. We believe that real-life interaction, conversations and local Australian stories will allow us to do so.
In May we are tackling waste and will be joined by some of the leading crusaders doing their bit to reduce their waste footprint as much as possible. According to The Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average Australian creates just over 2,000kgs of waste each year. Each household spends $1,266 on goods purchased but were never used. Around $600 worth of food is wasted by each household every year.
With these astonishing statistics in mind, we want to hold a conversation with a diverse range of people about how we can make small steps toward big change when it comes to waste in our lives and local communities. We'll cover what these legends are doing in their lives and business' as well as discuss helpful, realistic pointers that can easily and practically be adopted within your lives as well. We'll be joined by Alex from Cornersmith, The Unf**kers, Oliver Brown (Fat of the Land and Sea), Compost Revolution and Warre Wraps.
Mystery conversation driver to be confirmed, so keep your eyes peeled! Let's whack this waste issue in the bin!
Cost: $20
Provided: Your first drink from Young Henrys (donations will be taken for every bev after your first)
Bring: Cash for beer donations that go toward our education program.
THE PANEL
ALEX ELLIOT-HOWERY is the co-founder of what has become a thriving and boundary - breaking food community in inner Sydney. She runs the Cornersmith cafes, renowned for their big hearts and strong conscience when it comes to sustainably sourced food. Alex teaches pickling and preserving workshops at the Cornersmith cooking school, the Picklery. She is the co-author of two cookbooks, Cornersmith Recipes from the Café and Picklery and the recent release Salads & Pickles. Alex has a passion for using traditional preserving techniques to reduce food waste in her home and business kitchens.
CARO + VANESSA run the movement 'Be An Unf**ker'. They're on a mission to spread the good word of how each and every one of us can 'unf**k' the planet, one small step at a time. Their approach is jovial yet captivating and they now have an Instagram following of 18.8K. Here's a quote that sums up their realistic perceptions of how change can occur:
"You can’t care about something just because someone tells you to. So we want to give people a reason to care every time we give them a fact. If you say, drinking coffee from a takeaway cup is bad, don’t do it – people will roll their eyes and give you the mental middle finger. If you give them a reason why it’s bad, people are more likely to engage with what you have to say."
JUSTIN BONSEY one of the secret weapons behind the War on Waste'e waste-free street, Justin Bonsey and the crew from The Compost Revolution are making it easy for Australians to turn food scraps into rich soil and liquid fertiliser at home to reduce the amount of rubbish we send to landfill. Currently partnering with over 30 councils across Australia, the Compost Revolution is an award-winning platform which educates and equips people to recycle their food scraps at home. Their fun online tutorials and integrated easy ordering system allows residents to choose their composting gear and have it delivered straight to their door.
OLIVER BROWN is a forager and the founder of Fat of the Land and Sea. He is an archaeologist with an obsession about where food comes from and how it gets to the table. This has made him enough of a forager, fisher, hunter, gardener, beekeeper and cook to take on the challenge of going for a year living on wild and homegrown food with just a handful of other ingredients allowed into the kitchen. All while keeping up the office day job and family life in suburban Sydney.
EMILY GIMELLARO is a stay at home mother, beekeeper, part time beeswax wrap maker and natural dyer. Downsizing and starting a small business that could fit in with her family ethics was important for Emily so she started 'Warrè Wraps' and currently hand makes beeswax food wraps whilst managing a few beehives elsewhere. The beeswax wraps are now made from organic or salvaged cotton naturally dyed with plants found in her backyard or local walks, and the beeswax comes from her own bees or friends who have Warrè bee hives. Since using these wraps Emily's family have cut out plastic in most areas of their lives and are working towards being completely waste free.
IN CONVERSATION WITH THEA SOUTAR
Thea Soutar is Youth Food Movement’s CEO and all round food waste nerd. Having first realised the scale of Australia's food waste problem as a student, she worked as Communications Manager with DoSomething’s FoodWise campaign, before going on to steer food waste campaigns with YFM since 2014. Thea is an alumni of Centre for Sustainability Leadership and completed a Bachelor of Social Science (Hons) from University of Sydney in 2010.
THE SPONSORS
YOUNG HENRYS is an eclectic group of passionate brewers, distillers, musicians and artists, united for the love of good beer and fine gin. www.younghenrys.com