Hawkesbury harvest the pioneering spirit lives on
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Transcript of Hawkesbury harvest the pioneering spirit lives on
The Pioneering Spirit
Lives On
This is the story of Hawkesbury Harvest. Like all good stories it has heroes and villains, tragedy
and the overcoming of adversity. It’s not just a good story; it’s an inspiring story of human endeavour that has life-
affirming lessons for us all.
Hawkesbury Harvest took its name from
the Hawkesbury area in which
it was conceived..
As the Hawkesbury Harvest has grown and matured its influence has spread across the Sydney Region
and is being viewed by producers and consumers as a
place brand for Sydney Region produce
The seed of Hawkesbury Harvest was created
between 1810 and 1820 when the new Colony’s fifth Governor, Colonel
Lachlan Macquarie established the five Macquarie Towns of Windsor, Richmond,
Castlereagh, Pitt Town and Wilberforce.
Soon extensive farming fed the infant
colony, taking advantage of the fertile soils of the
Hawkesbury-Nepean River
system..
There was no reason for Hawkesbury Harvest’s awakening during the era
when the area serviced by the Macquarie Towns became first known as
the breadbasket, and then the food bowl of Sydney.
The seed lay undisturbed for the ensuing 120 years during which time agriculture became the dominant economic force of the nation and in particular the Sydney
region, specifically those areas based on the Hawkesbury-Nepean
• The 1940s marked the period when Sydney’s land use began to change significantly.
• Suburbanisation started to sprawl out across the Basin.
Despite this the Hawkesbury Harvest seed lay quietly dormant as the trends in the food bowl gathered momentum and the day dawned when a few people wondered if action might be needed to preserve agriculture as a land use in association with the urban development.
At the end of the Second World War many people
from the European
Union came to live in
Australia.
Those who acquired or leased land on the outskirts of the ever-expanding urban
Sydney soon realised the financial bonanza to be had from using the land to grow food and plants in its various forms while waiting until the housing
arrived on their door step.
Land was plentiful as was the
opportunity to grow food in parts of the country that
were beginning to be opened up
such as the Murray Darling
Basin.
When the housing did arrive many simply sold to the developers
and bought further out and waited for the next housing
wave to arrive.
By the 1980s agricultural land in the Sydney Basin was regarded politically and
within the bureaucracy as ‘land awaiting higher
economic development.
“There is no place for agriculture in the Sydney Basin. Agriculture belongs over the (Dividing) Range and any agricultural land is land awaiting higher economic development” people in high places were saying
The Hawkesbury Harvest seed lay in the most barren of ground.
Towards the late 1990s rural lifestyle living
had overtaken farming as the major land use
of acreage blocks.
The only effort in support of agriculture in the Basin
was coordinated by the thencalled NSW Department of Agriculture
with its focus on sound environmental practices
and viability, as burning issues of the time.
As the second half of the 20th Century progressed the supermarket system began to
emerge as the dominant force in the food chain.
This coincided with the loss
of direct connection between
people and farmers who
grew the food they
ate.
Relationshipbased social and
environmental benefits were
being progressively
traded off for convenience
shopping.
By the end of the 1990s the total dominance of the food
chain by the major supermarkets was impacting
on farm economic performance.
Small farm holdings in the Sydney Basin were under extreme pressure from
increased competition and reduced power
to determine price and thus incomes.
A survey in 2007 in the Hawkesbury confirmed people had begun to realise
that agriculture and/or some other means of making income
from the acreage blocks had a vital role to play
in the maintenance of that heritage landscape.
In early 2000 a community meetingwas held in the packing shed
of an orange orchard located between Richmond and Castlereagh.
The orchard is on land over which Governor Macquarie could well have
travelled when he explored the region and established the five towns.
• The purpose of that meeting was to determine how the small farm local agriculture and food related industries could achieve or enhance viability in the region.
• During the meeting the Hawkesbury Harvest seed literally burst into life.
The first shoot to emerge was the Farm
Gate Trail (FGT) a hybrid activity created by the integration of agriculture with the
tourism and the hospitality industries.
Other shoots have since emerged including
open farm days,
farmers markets and a provedore
•Building Opportunity•Building a
Future•Reaping the
Harvest
Mission StatementHawkesbury Harvest
is a communitybased association
committed to improving the
economic viabilityand sustainability of
local agriculture.
Provedore Service
Local GreenGrocer
Open Farms
Farm GateTrail Map
Harvest has developed many ways of helping farmers market their
produce.
SpecialEvents
Farmers Markets
Kurrajong Native Foods
For food producers it’s about finding alternative
channels through which they sell their products.
Lee Etherington now exports to 37 countries and has a
multi-million dollar turnover.
‘Pine End Organic Farm has been a member of
Hawkesbury Harvest for 2 years now and in that time,
we havefound its professional organization of events,
promotion and support to be of great benefit to
our business.Not only has it brought more customers to our
farmgate but has also given us the opportunity to
be a part of the extensive marketplace which it
promotes.’Margarita and Shaun
Carrick
‘Hawkesbury Harvest provides me with a network of farmers who buy and sell from each other according to seasonal
demands. Hawkesbury Harvest networking and promotion has assisted in the rapid growth of my business through my modern packing shed
catering for local trade and a rapidly expanding tourist business. I am confident my business will further
expand with Hawkesbury Harvest being and integral of that growth’
John Maguire.
Enniskillen OrchardGrose Vale
Enniskillen Orchard
Café and Provedoring
A Typical Tourism Day10:00 AM
10:00 AM
10:15 AM
10:30 AM
It’s about tourism working for farmers, not
farmers working for tourism
Edition 7 is a multi-map format extending the Trail onto the South
Coast
Cooperative EffortHarvest Role Local Government Role Farmer Role
Design and Mentoring Local advocate Commitment to be open when they say they will be
Produce the map Local link to media, tourism and community
Interest in innovating with tourism
Market, media and web support
Strategic support for agriculture and farms
Like the general public
Monitor performance and manage issues
Keep Harvest up to date –follow through – we can only be as good as they are
1000’s of voluntary hours
Like everything no matter
how good the concept its the people who make it
work
Faces of the Harvest Founding HH chair
David Mason travelled the world to confirm
the benchmark of excellence was in his
own back yard
John Maguire speaks passionately of his personal commitment to the maintenance of productive agricultural land and the insanity of the relentless sterilisation of fertile land for the purpose of intensive real estate development.
Bill Shields, Chair of the Hawkesbury Harvest shares his considerable knowledge in maintaining a viable orchard, and the
contribution made by science, as well as the importance for younger generations to see
first hand where their fruit and vegies come from.
Every successful organisation
has one and HH has a very unique one in
Alan Eagle
John Reynolds Nashdale Fruit Co.
100% owned and grown in Australia.
Members of the board
and personalities
toast the launch of
Map 6
Eric Brocken. Board
Member
Bob Germaine.Executive Officer,
Regional Development Australia (RAD).
Never underestimate the power of passion !!!!!!!
Former Chair and current Harvest treasurer Ian Knowd’s PhD studies
are in rural communities and tourism, and specifically the Hawkesbury
Harvest phenomenon.
Lets not forgetthe media
Simon Marnie ABC Sydney selling the message
far and wide www.abc.net.au/sydney/programs/702_weekends/
And the chroniclers It's 7.30 in the morningThe sun is getting hotThe cockatoos are squabblingCars fill the parking lot.I think that I am earlyBut that is not the caseBecause there is Alan EagleA huge smile upon his face.The line is long for coffeeThe queue is huge for eggsThere are people buying vegiesAnd choosing their ducks legs.There are flowers and there's lambOysters, herbs and honey tooThere's beef and flowers and gorgeous jamAnd still the people queue.......
Excerpt from the Hawkesbury Harvest Blog by Mary Canning http://marycanningphotography.typepad.com/the_hawkesbury_harvest_fa/2009/12/index.html
What the Harvest story contributes, even to those planning regimes where agriculture is protected,
is what it means in cultural landscape and food culture terms, and its integral role in
food quality, supply, security and equity in developed communities.
The lessons learned here are fundamental to a viable future for agriculture in the urbanising world and
associated food systems, not just of Sydney,
but also for all modern industrialised economies
and their human settlements.
Acknowledgements• The text in this PowerPoint is taken from “The
Hawkesbury Harvest Story exploring the socio-cultural intersection between urbanisation and agriculture in the Sydney Basin” by David Mason and Ian Knowd
• Images and text in slides 29 to 38 are taken from a PowerPoint presentation by Ian Knowd
• Selected images from Mary Canning’s Hawkesbury Harvest Blog http://marycanningphotography.typepad.com/the_hawkesbury_harvest_fa/
This PowerPoint was created by the Dairy Youth Australia Inc
Art4Agriculture team as part of the
Cream of the Crop Competition initiative
http://www.dairyyouthaustralia.com.au/creamofthecrop/index.html
GOLD SILVERPLATINUM
BRONZE
WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE SPONSORS OF THE 2010 CREAM OF THE CROP COMPETITION