Food Connect: Thinking inside the box for just and sustainable food

Kelly Jones

ood Connect is a socially and environmentally progressive organisation dedicated to connecting consumers and farmers. The original Food Connect was founded by farmer Robert Pekin in Brisbane as a community supported agriculture-style fruit and vegetable box scheme. Robert envisaged a large community shared agriculture (CSA) enterprise that could develop a local and regional food system for south-east Queensland. There was no seeding capital so Robert took to the road enlisting farmers and potential subscribers. Food Connect started in 2004 with its now widely recognised City Cousin system - people who open their homes to provide the drop o points for the food grown by our farmers. The energy and persistence provided by Robert and many other people committed to implementing a food system which is better for both farmers and the environment has allowed Food Connect to grow to the point where the Brisbane Food Connect is distributing almost 1000 boxes each week. The key principles of Food Connect are a fair go for farmer by ensuring fair and stable prices for their produce, that eating local seasonal and ecologically produced food is better for both ecological and sustainability reasons (besides tasting much better), and a commitment to rebuilding our local communities. These principles are built into the modus operandi of Food Connect and frame all decisions taken within the organisation. We see that current methods of growing and distributing food are deeply awed and that the market monopoly on fresh food sales in Australia presents a serious threat to our long-term food security, both at the national and the regional level. Additionally, the lack of prioritisation by the Big Two supermarket chains to delivering truly fresh food serves to undermine the health and wellbeing of the population, and purchasing and storage policies by these groups disrupts community perspectives of what fresh food actually looks and tastes like. The impact on both farmers and the practice of farming resulting from the monopolisation of the fresh food distribution system is clearly deleterious. Farmer incomes have been steadily falling and mental health issues have become a concern as the drive for cheaper and cheaper food impacts upon those who grow our food. The ageing farming workforce should be of concern to all Australians. We are actively working on practical solutions to overcome these serious problems and our box delivery scheme, fair pricing policy and farm tour experiences represent important steps

towards providing consumers with real fresh food choices, changing city folks relationships with the land, providing farmers with stable income and reconnecting farmers to the consumers via the food they produce. Food Connect Adelaide was launched in March 2010 by a group of dedicated volunteers supporting its two Adelaide founders. FCA started delivery with 70 eager subscribers and after only twelve weeks of being open for business, through the miracles of word of mouth and the internet, we are delivering over 350 boxes to Adelaide subscribers weekly, an overwhelming thumbs up for an alternative, ethical food supply and distribution system and numbers are growing daily. FCA has sourced predominantly local organic growers within a ve hour radius of the city to supply subscribers with fresh, super tasty produce. FCA already has 14 City Cousins operating as community drop o and collection points for our fruit and veg boxes and more are ready waiting until enough subscribers are available in their area to make a new collection point viable. FCA is currently sourcing our produce from around 20 farmers in both peri-urban areas and the Riverland region. Around 85% of the produce sourced by Food Connect Adelaide is certied organic or biodynamic and the remaining 15% is purchased from farmers who use ecological and sustainable growing methods but are not certied. The challenges in starting up a whole new food supply system in a small market such as Adelaide have been immense, not to mention doing it all without any seeding capital! The mentoring provided by the Brisbane Food Connect crew has provided invaluable guidance and saved us time, money and, no doubt, stress. Our small but dedicated team have done an incredible job to get this social enterprise up and running and the support for our novel, social approach to business that has been shown by our farmers has been heart-warming as has been the community support for such a venture. Food Connect systems are growing around the country, with Food Connects opening in Sydney, Melbourne, and Cos Harbour as well as Adelaide. Check us out on our website www.foodconnectadelaide.com.au

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Chain Reaction #109 July 2010