At Pocket City Farms we’ve found ourselves in a community of like-minded humans who want to hear more in-depth discussion about food in Australia, and what better place to hold this than our urban farm in Camperdown? Enter Farm Chats! We believe that real-life interaction, conversations and local Australian stories will allow us to take discussion and action to the next level. So get on board, come to a farm chat to be well watered and filled with ideas.
This October we’re chatting Food Security, and why it matters for us as city dwellers. As a nation Australia is generally perceived as pretty ‘secure’ in its food supply, especially when you think about the huge percentage of produce we are able to export. Yet at any time, thousands of people in Australia are food insecure, and there are big improvements to be made to rectify this. In addition, those who are food secure, potentially only remain so due to systems that damage the land that grows our sustenance and supports communities.
Meanwhile, the capacity of the Sydney Basin to continue producing a significant amount of the city’s fresh food needs is dwindling as a need for housing also expands. How do farmers, town planners, policy makers and eaters respond to these complexities? Are there creative ways forward? Join us for a drink and some soup to hear from a panel of people working on the ground with food insecure households, organisations at the coal face of reducing food loss on a farm level, and researchers working at a policy and systems level on responding to food insecurity.
When: Wednesday October 2nd, at 6pm. Panel will finish by 8pm and beers & chats are welcome to continue.
Cost: $25
Provided: Your first beer thanks to our brewing mates Young Henrys, kombucha by Ballsy Brewing, soup by Hearth & Soul, bread by Brickfields
Bring: Coins for beer donations. All donations go directly to our school education program.
THE PANEL
DR LUKE CRAVEN is passionate about putting the 'system' in food system. A researcher, consultant, and advocate, he has spent the past five years working with local and state governments across Australia to help them understand the underlying drivers of many of the challenges our in our food system. Pragmatic to his core, he collaborates with a variety of stakeholder to develop new and innovative solutions to these challenges, from the FoodLab Sydney, to the Food Innovation Hub in Tasmania, to a cross-sector strategy to develop a food policy in the ACT. If you want to convince him to do something, bring carrot cake.
LIZ MORGAN of Macquarie University has been a food activist since she first bagged brown rice and green lentils in a student food co-op in Scotland more years ago than she cares to remember. Currently, Liz is completing a PhD on food security and local government in Western Sydney, while working as a part time food academic and journalist. She lives in the Blue Mountains, where she ferments, brews, pickles and cans just about anything grown un the garden or gleaned from the environment, community or bins. Food injustice - and especially what is happening to Sydney’s shrinking food production bowl - is what makes Liz both mad and motivated
ANNIKA STOTT is dedicated to fighting food waste. She has spent the last six years working in sustainability and food waste prevention, starting with the UK’s independent advisory body WRAP and now in as Sustainability Strategist for OzHarvest. Annika is passionate about the cause and has extensive knowledge and expertise in both food waste education and behavioural change. Understanding the complexities of food waste from farm to fork, she is helping to pioneer change as a valued member of the steering committee for the National Food Waste Strategy. Annika believes in making the world a better place by reconnecting people with the value of food.
SARAH PENNELL joined Foodbank Australia in 2010 and since then has fulfilled a variety of roles as the organisation has grown, including operations, marketing and fundraising. She came to Foodbank from a long career in the food industry focussing on supporting and promoting farmers and their products, in particular dairy and horticulture. Foodbank is Australia’s most impactful food relief organisation, providing food and groceries to over 2,600 charities and 2,000 schools. By working with the entire national food sector - including farmers, wholesalers, manufacturers and retailers - last year Foodbank sourced 42.8 million kilos of product - that’s the equivalent of 210,000 meals a day.
In conversation with
DR ALANA MANN iDR ALANA MANN Dr Alana Mann is Food Lead Researcher Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney, and Chief Investigator, FoodLab Sydney. Is food political? Go ask a farmer! Food is where the social, the technical, the cultural, the economic - and the environment - meet. My research focuses on how ordinary people can have more say in our foodways. I want my work to give voice to those making our local foodscapes fairer and tastier and healthier. That means respecting many choices based on culture, capacity, nutritional needs, and preference in diets. Can we do so within planetary boundaries that respect the non-human too?
OUR SPONSORS
Young Henrys is an eclectic group of passionate brewers, distillers, musicians and artists, united for the love of good beer and fine gin.
Brickfields baking heavenly pastry, cakes and crusty sourdough and serving up delicious treats at their corner bakery in Chippendale.
Ballsy Brewing Organic, precision brewed, and handcrafted Kombucha.
Hearth and Soul A haven of deliciousness designed by Rachel Jelley, a conscious cook in the heart of Newtown, inspired by nature's abundance and generosity.