A Tale of Community Cohesion: Together We Can Create Change On a Saturday morning after a hectic week, a bunch of strangers gathers in a central Ballarat hall with one mission on their mind: self sufficiency.
Words and Photography by Lou Ridsdale
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with new skills (or enhance the skills they already possess), all in an endeavour to make the world more ecofriendly.
Taking their seats, they acknowledge their neighbours with a shy nod. The class commences. What happens in the next hour or so is quite remarkable. Facts, figures, demonstrations, and hands-on immersive experiments occur. Amid the laughter and chatter, notes are furiously taken as knowledge is imparted via videos and photographs. This knowledge will empower attendees to apply all they’ve learned when they return home. And the best bit: the shy glances that first occurred have turned into big wide smiles, and an obvious rapport has been formed. In a society that favours connection via screens over face-to-face interactions, this is an unusual experience for some.
Junkies hosted one of the more memorable workshops, with a great gathering of craft-orientated eco-warriors who learned how to DIY their own seeds and garden diaries out of old recycled books, diaries and photo albums. Selena and Freya based the workshop on a previous article on seed saving, and it worked an absolute treat. Other crafty/art themed workshops hosted by Food Is Free and run by amazing facilitators have included Ephemeral Art run by Colleen from Fifteen Trees; Garden Photography with Smart Phones plus Botanic Art Drawing by Louisa West; Origami Seed Packet Making with Leigh; Family Crafts by Anna Paxton; and Christmas Wreath making from Botanics by Fi Walsh.
So, what is going on here?
Other workshops include Seed Saving, Backyard Chickens, Asian Dumpling Making, Companion Planting, Herbs, Permaculture Kitchen Design, Soil Testing, Plants and Pets, Indoor Plant Health, Recycling, Beekeeping, Worm Farms, Organic Pest Management, Kids’ Gardening and Vegetable Fermenting, to name just a few.
Food Is Free Inc. has delivered numerous workshops and events geared towards empowering the members of the Ballarat community with the skills and knowledge to grow their own food, lead sustainable lives, and carry out good environmental practice – and we’ve loved every minute! If you’ve ever been part of a community gathering like this, you’ll be familiar with the positive energy it generates.
Workshops on garlic growing, Asian greens gardening, edible flowers, jam making, recycling and gardening, fungi, growing olives, quinces, teas and global medicines, and various kids’ workshops that encourage nature play are planned.
Food Is Free Inc. is a shining example of how communities can work together via gardening and food sharing, whilst fostering safer neighbourhoods, developing skills and facilitating empowerment, in addition to building confidence and a stronger, healthier population.
Our motto is: “Save money, do it yourself and leave behind a better planet”. Empowerment leads to a confidence in attendees that was not present prior to the event. The Christmas Wreath Making workshop, for example, was held a few weeks prior to Christmas, often a stressful and chaotic time. The hall was filled with people taking a little time out of the hustle and bustle of Christmas
Since October 2019, Food Is Free has hosted over 40 workshops, with 30 to take place before May 2020. Over 700 people have attended, and we anticipate that we’ll reach over 1000 by the time we finish. That’s 1000 people committed to supporting a self-sufficient environment, who wish to empower themselves unite
