5 minute read
Out of the Box || Deb Dogenhuber & Jade Miles
Matching farmers with unused land for their local food systems.
Jade Miles & Deb Bogenhuber
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Tell us a little about the out of the box and food next door project.
Food Next Door Co-op is the organisation and Out Of The Box is the food product created to provide a means for distribution of local fresh food. Based in Mildura, with vast multiculturalism and newly established refugees moving into the area, their farming skills were underutilised.
Tell us a little about the food system in your region?
Mildura is dominated by food grown for export - 99% of the table grapes are exported from the region. There are still a lot of family owned farms but large scale and commodity focussed. The majority of what’s grown is table grapes, wine grapes and dried fruits + almonds are also increasing. So the local food system has a very small market share. There are 15 supermarkets in the Mildura region alone - some have local produce but if they do it’s mostly travelled to Melbourne and then come back.
How has the project evolved and developed?
Food Next Door came about via a group of community members who had identified a need for better access to local food and the realisation that there was a lot of empty unused land in Mildura which would be ideal for food growing. Some of the land owners were open to having their land used for the purposes of growing local food. It was when this group of volunteers connected with a research project that Food Next Door evolved. The project being carried out by researchers from the Universities of Melbourne and Wollongong looked at the skills and knowledge of new migrant farmers in Australia, and how their skills and knowledge of farming translated in the Australian context. The main finding for new migrant farmers in Mildura was that their skills and knowledge were not being utilised because the farmers did not have the resources to access land. So Food Next Door formed from bringing together farmerless land, landless farmers and consumers who wanted local food. It was a perfect outcome. Out of the Box was born in September 2017 with 30 family boxes and now they do 70 boxes weekly. There are now 12 or so local growers that supply produce, plus our own farms - the Community Demonstration Farm and River Farm. The community demonstration farm offers farm tours to stakeholders and hopes to offer tours for school programs in the future.
In your experience, how can we assist more ecological farming practices?
We are about to launch our own PGS (participatory guarantee system) with 2 farmers plus the Food Next Door farms as a trial. This is as much about building support systems and education opportunities as it is about certification. The food produced by members of the PGS will be offered priority for supply to Out of the Box and a premium price.
Why was this initiative so important for your community?
It’s the one vehicle that Mildura has for locally grown food to guarantee a fair return for growers, it’s transparent about the growing practices and it supports those with farming skills. Out of the Box is a subscription model so there is a consistent weekly order, this gives growers security of planning for what they are going to grow each season. Food Next Door also offers a training course for new migrant farmers who can then sell what they grow to an established market; so as well as learning how to grow they also learn about ordering cycles, post harvest management, and business management.
What are the primary challenges for biological farming practices in your region?
The established organic growers tend to be medium scale and they sell everything to the Melbourne markets. The really small scale growers are faced with the challenge of finding a strong path to market. The farmers market operates twice per month and getting a stall is difficult due to competition control. There is an appetite in the area from consumers to buy biologically grown food but connecting the growers and the eaters is the biggest challenge.
What are some of the opportunities/complexities of working with a broad range of cultures?
English language and literacy levels range from very low to good, so multilingual staff are needed for the project. We have a translator-artist on the team who is engaged to translate more complex ideas into graphics.
How do you share the knowledge you’ve gleaned in the last five years?
We are forever sharing at every opportunity. We are often Invited onto panels, discussions, workshops, conference presentations and we distribute a quarterly newsletter. Social media and our website are a powerful tool. Lots of local media! multicultural communities? There are always opportunities to volunteer on local food projects, becoming a member of Food Next Door Co-op and actively shopping there. Attend on-farm harvest feasts and regenerative farming workshops.
What farming practices are your farmers using?
Our farmers are Burundian and Congolese: All of our farmers have always farmed using organic practices. They come from a place with a very different climate and different soil so that’s been a very steep learning curve but they’ve accepted the biodynamic ethics with ease - they are very spiritual people and the spiritual dimension of biodynamics sits comfortably with them.
Is there one other pearl of wisdom you can share with Biological readers?
We have a really great opportunity in Australia to expand and develop this type of farming with our African migrants which is a growing community in Australia. They are all connected to farming so their skills and their knowledge is intuitive. It’s in their blood. It’s a really unique opportunity to see food growing through their eyes.
