Local Harvest by Nick Ray on Pozible

Local Harvest

By Nick Ray

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Project Description

Around Australia today, people are creating a fantastic future for healthier communities and a healthier planet. With every meal, we have the opportunity to support local and sustainable food production.

Local Harvest will be a website resource for finding good food close to you, connecting with growers, and exploring alternatives for food production in an urban setting. It includes:

a national directory for finding food co-ops, food swap meets, community gardens, farmers markets, box systems, pick-you-own farms, farm-gate products, organic retailers, seed saver networks, free-range meats, and more. You can find local food by simply placing in a postcode.

promotion and exploration of do-it-yourself alternatives for food production and meeting essential needs, including resources for growing your own food, making your own produce, storing and preserving, and low energy living.

We will largely be drawing from the many existing resources, and collating them into one place. There is a fantastic similar resource existing for the

USA

found at www.localharvest.org on which this project has been based.

Additionally, the Local Harvest Challenge will be an annual event where you, with your community, for one week attempt to reduce the 'degrees of separation' from your food. It’s a practical way to learn together more about the source of your food and discover resources for eating locally in your area. It is based on the Household Action Challenge run in previous years.

Core objectives of the project are to help people move away from dependence on the supermarket and industrial food system, and support local producers, reduce transport distance and associated energy and carbon impact, and build up connections between urban consumers and rural producers.

The project will be launched at Melbourne's Sustainable Living Festival in February 2012.

Find out more about why this project is important at www.localharvest.org.au

The Context

The work of the Ethical Consumer Group over the past 7 years have provided resources for better choices within the supermarket and introduced the many issues connected with our food and everyday consumerables. Many people have chosen to take up the challenge of more closely aligning their purchases with their values. However the present global system of food production reliant on long distance transportation, chemicals in production and storage, and ownership by large multinational companies, means that the real answers are beyond the supermarket and industrial food system.

About us

The Ethical Consumer Group is a community based, not-for-profit network working to help facilitate more sustainable purchasing practices for the everyday consumer. Our work includes the production of an annual print guide and the Shop Ethical iPhone app, education through workshops and presentations, and hosting of community events such as our monthly 'meal and movie' nights and annual 'household action challenge'. Our website www.ethical.org.au and print guide focus on the companies behind common brands and their company track record with regards to social and environmental considerations. We are based in Melbourne and have a national reach.

Networks and relationships

Key partners that make up the working group are Urban Harvest Western Swap Meet, Transition Towns Hobson's Bay, and Permaculture Out West.

Sustainable Table is a major project partner for Local Harvest. Sustainable Table uses food as an entrée to explore sustainability issues and supports projects around the world that help to restore the natural environment to ensure the safe and ongoing provision of food.

Other groups who have an interest in the project and may contribute content are Australian City Farms & Community Garden network, Australian Farmers Markets Association, Cultivating Community, CERES Community Environment Park and various organic industry groups such as the Biological Farmers of Australia.

Networks for promotion include the Sustainable Living Foundation, Friends of the Earth, Permaculture Australia, and many more.

Funding

Our Pozible funding goal is $8,500. This will cover key costs of web design and development, promotion and coordination of the project.

Any funds raised in addition to this initial amount will go towards a more extensive national media campaign prior to the launch, which would be ideal given the nature of the project.

What you get

There are some great tasty bits that come with funding support. The real reward however is being part of making a real difference in the world, one that reclaims our food choices.

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Project By

Nick Ray

Melbourne, Australia

http://www.ethical.org.au/

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Nick Ray believes its a big world out there. And easy to get lost in it unless we cultivate a sense of home, a connectedness to place and to those we share it with. Nick is passionate about giving people simple everyday tools to help in living more lightly. He loves his bike, chickens, wife and kids (not necessarily in that order).

After realising that we know very little about the true impact and cost of our purchases, Nick set about formulating a database on products, companies and issues. In 2004 he met with Clint who was working on a similar project and together they formed the Ethical Consumer Group, now a growing network of people exploring sustainable alternatives in a consumer culture.