To help set the course for Australian agriculture, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) will release five new research reports from its National Rural Issues program in Canberra next month. The National Rural Issues program aims to consider themes that cover multiple industries and in areas where industry and government leaders need […]
Australian consumer magazine, Choice, recently published an article about free range eggs. The report explains that the Model Code of Practice stipulates no more than 1500 hens per hectare to meet ethical standards, yet many free range egg producers are stocking at much higher densities. The report goes on to identify stocking densities of free […]
Merran Laver is a local freelance writer and editor and has been helping us understand why local food resilience is important. This month Merran looks more closely at what is happening right now in our region to secure our local food resilience.
In considering local food resilience in our own region, I thought it would be useful […]
As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, diversity in food production and supply is important in creating a resilient local food system.
There are many reasons to increase diversity in our food supply at a local level. One is to promote access to fresh, seasonal foods that consumers will choose to eat. Foods available locally have a […]
In April 2015 Southern Harvest and Southern Harvest Farmers Market hosted a food safety information session for food producers in our region. While some information is specific to Palerang Council area, food producers and potential food producers from other council areas will find the videos useful. Insight is provided into NSW food regulations and, if […]
From growing fresh fruit and vegetables to keeping bees for honey and pollination, households are growing more home produce now than they did five years ago. Increased urban density has also lead to an increase in the number and popularity of community gardens, and many can be found in the Southern Harvest region.
Two articles […]
As interest grows among consumers in sourcing their food from local producers, it is worth looking at resilience in the local food system as one of the many benefits.
The term resilience has roots in the Latin word resilio, which means to ‘jump back’1; and broadly it is defined as a return to an original state. […]
The Gippsland Food Plan is the first of its kind to be developed in response to the Australian National Food Plan.
The Gippsland region borders our Southern Harvest region. It extends from the edge of metropolitan Melbourne in the west, to the most easterly point of Victoria, and up to the NSW border.
Gippsland’s economy is predominantly […]
ACT Territories and Municipal Services Minister Shane Rattenbury aims to free up more unused public land for growing food in Canberra and plans a registration system for backyard beekeepers this year, among measures to boost food self-sufficiency in Canberra.
Mr Rattenbury, head of the ACT Greens, called a roundtable of local producers last year and on […]
Earlier this month, RDA Southern Inland and Southern Harvest hosted the Australian Capital Region premiere of Fair Food, Australia’s first feature length documentary that tells the story of our farmers, social entrepreneurs and communities pioneering new approaches to food production, marketing and distribution. About 180 people attended the premiere. It was great to see such […]
