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Good Food News D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 V O L U M E 2 - I S S U E 3

A B O U T

T H F F :

We promote

Good Food &

Good Food

Activities in

The Hills

‘Good Food’ is

nutritious,

wholesome,

affordable and,

where possible,

is grown ethi-

cally by local

farmers and

producers

We are a

community

driven good

food initiative

Food is Free now in Tecoma The concept of Food Is Free is simple.

With an excess of food from home

gardens or from bought produce, no

single person should be without healthy

food. ‘Food Is Free' is an international

food movement towards food security

for all. It started as a simple community

garden in Austin Texas January 2012 and

grew into a worldwide movement now

involving over 350 cities.

Food Is Free Tecoma is a community

initiative and collaboration between

Tecoma Uniting Church and The Hills

Food Frontier, assisted with funding from

the Shire of Yarra Ranges. The aim is to

reach out into the local community to

provide a source of free, healthy, and

where possible, organic foods.

Food is Free has come to Tecoma and

we are very excited to be a part of this

international movement toward food

security for all. The launch in October

was a huge success with approximately

100 community members joining us.

After the opening, community members

were able to participate in a variety of

activities which included the Pop­up Straw Bale

planting, Children's Story telling, Hot Compost

Building and talks about the Coolgardie Safe and

Wicking Garden Beds.

With many households and individuals struggling

to make ends meet, opting to pay bills and/or

rent/mortgage, rather than having food on the

table, or worse, Food is Free Tecoma can assist

them.

Food can be accessed on the verandah of the Te-

coma Uniting Church, 1566 Burwood Highway in

a Coolgardie Safe. Our Coolgardie safe has one

side which serves as a pantry for dry and tinned

goods whilst the other side, the wicking cabinet, is

for fresh produce i.e. fruit and vegetables.

We have been delighted to see food being

delivered daily and even more delighted to see

that food is being taken and used. After only one

month of the launch our Facebook page, Food Is

Free Tecoma, celebrated with 500 'likes'.

We encourage you to leave any surplus fruit,

vegetables, herbs, seedlings and seeds, dry/tinned

goods and/or take what you need. Here's to the

continued success of Food Is Free Tecoma!

The Hills Food Frontier Inc. (THFF) Growing, cooking, sharing & learning about good food in The Hills

Food Security

Imagine feeling hungry; picture your home without

sufficient food. Your family is starving. You fight for

any food you can find, each day is a battle and the

cries of your children are heart breaking. This is

food insecurity. Don’t think it can ever happen to

you? Think again. Easter Island was once a paradise

where a small population thrived for hundreds of

years. It is now known that they ran out of food

due to increasing population and poor farming

techniques. They removed all the trees which lead

to rapid changes in the arability of the land.

In Australia we have limited land situated on our

coastal fringes that provides most of our food.

Overseas investors are buying farms and land as a

way to provide food security for their rapidly ex-

panding populations and to make up for the degra-

dation that their land has suffered due to poor

farming practices. Sound familiar?

Australians can no longer rely solely on farmers to

provide our food into the future. Farmers are leav-

ing their land in droves, disillusioned and impover-

ished. Much of this land is being sold for housing

development or to foreign investors. It is time we

all had a better understanding of food security.

Food security is when the community has

access to reliable and sufficient quantities of

local, affordable, and nutritious food.

To develop high levels of food security, land used

for food production must be protected by using

sustainable and regenerative practices such as or-

ganic farming or permaculture.

Permaculture is a proven way to support and re-

generate land. Permaculture is a system of

agricultural and social design principles centred on

simulating or directly utilising the patterns and fea-

tures observed in natural ecosystems. It includes

ecological design, ecological engineering, environ-

mental design, construction and integrated water

resources management that develops sustainable

architecture, regenerative and self-maintained habi-

tat and agricultural systems modelled from natural

ecosystems.

P A G E 2

G O O D F O O D N E W S - D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5

You can do your bit to develop higher levels of food

security and regenerative practices by:

Learning to grow your own food and when you have an

excess participating in food swaps

Supporting farmers markets

Participating in shared meals using your own and

shared produce

Becoming an active member in a community

Garden

Joining local networks and ‘learn how to grow’ groups

Getting to know your local farmers and supporting

them

Eating seasonally and knowing where your food comes

from, and buying locally or within 100kms of your

home

Joining a food buying group that supports local farmers

Choosing carefully where you go to eat out. The Hills

has many cafes that use local organic and organically

grown fresh produce and Fairtrade options

Asking Councils to make spare crown land

available for sustainable food growing

Reducing your reliance on supermarkets

Buying organic and organically grown wherever possi-ble

Enrolling in a permaculture course

Avoiding processed food and fast food

Reading labels and educating yourself about

ethical products

G O O D F O O D N E W S - D E C E M B E R

P A G E 3

Sounds great but don’t know where to go for all

this? That’s where we at THFF Inc can help you.

THFF FLAME Garden group has a community gar-

den which is based at the Tecoma Uniting Church.

They hold regular ‘Grow It’ mornings and working

bees and is now linked to the Food is Free Tecoma

Project. See www.thehillsfoodfrontier.com for

dates and details. They love to meet and support

people who are new to gardening or who don’t

think their land could grow anything

Upwey has a community garden and they also hold

regular sessions to introduce new people to food

growing. Check out THFF Facebook pages for

more information

There are various local food markets and famers markets in the area; Monbulk, Kallista,

Cockatoo , Belgrave , Belgrave Big Dreams and the

Upwey food swap. See the back page of our news-

letter for dates and times.

Community Harvest Dinners and shared meals are

held in various homes each month. See back page

of Newsletter for details.

Some of the Hills cafes that are well known for

supporting food security by their ethical

practices are: Evolve Fair Food Store and The

Laughing Owl in Belgrave, The Deli Café and

Providore In Mt. Dandenong and The Real Food

Café in Tecoma.

You might want to ask some questions when you

eat out e.g.

- Where do you source your produce from?

- What organic/organically grown options do

you have?

- Are your eggs free range and where do they

come from?

- Is your meat free range and ethically raised and

where does it come from?

- Is your coffee local and if not is it Fair

trade?

If the business is really interested in supporting

food security they will love to tell you what they

are doing!

Good Food Cafes

The Deli Platter-Delicatessen and

Providore in Mt Dandenong village. The winter

edition of Yarra Ranges Magazine

declared it to be a food gem. Trish Cullen manages this

quaint Deli that was recently featured on

Postcards. From truffle tastings to real pretzels, French

and local cheese, pates, terrine,

rillettes and pies. They sell ethical products

such as, The Stock Market range of grass fed and free

range bone broth said to have amazing healing qualities.

Their food is home-made and sourced from ethical and

organic growers. The best thing is that the prices are

very reasonable. Trish says she is more interested in

keeping her food affordable than big profits. The Deli

Platter offers artisan, farmhouse products. They use

family recipes and are dietary aware

offering Paleo, Gluten-free and sugar-free options. The

best thing is the warm and welcoming atmosphere and

the food is delicious.

Evolve Fair Food Store is in Belgrave. One of

Melbourne’s favourites according to Broadsheet and

voted to have the best brekky by The Age. Evolve

Fair Food Store is the vision of local woman Denise

Sangster-Green and her family. They believe that pro-

duce has to be fair from the farm to the plate. Their

food is all organic, ethically sought and locally bought.

They offer a great range of food and beverages. Wink

Models say that the easiest way to eat healthy is to eat

at Evolve Fair Food Store. Keen to support the local

community Evolve Fair Food Store has hosted THFF

Good Food Buying Group and has shown The Fair

Food Documentary. This store is also beginning to

grow their own produce and composts its waste with

the help of local permaculture experts. It is child

friendly (with a special place to play) with gor-

geous food served with love and drinks served with

wisdom.

P A G E 4

G O O D F O O D N E W S - D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5

What have we achieved over the last 12 months? The Hills Food Frontier recently held its’ first

Annual General Meeting. Here is an extract from

the annual report

“So much has been achieved. With much

voluntary work from a small team, we have gained

the support and respect of the Hills community. We

are seen as a group who would be missed if we

weren’t around. From little things big things grow.

Many, many hours have been dedicated to the better

good of something that we all believe in, and know is

right. Our Community Development approach with

the underpinnings of a Community Health and well-

being perspective has meant that we have spread the

knowledge of THFF around the Hills quite broadly, in

an inclusive manner.

Our major achievements have been:

Development and ongoing maintenance of the

FLAME community garden (Food life Art Music

Education)

The FLAME Garden & Food festival

Development of Food is Free Tecoma

In terms of community outreach we have

achieved:

The building of relationships with Shire of Yarra

Ranges

A strong, willing and wholesome partnership

with Tecoma Uniting Church

Promotion of many cafes

An ongoing supportive relationship with the

office of Minister James Merlino

Ongoing sponsorship of the wicking garden

boxes at FLAME

Regular working bees at the FLAME garden

Regular education sessions via ‘Grow It ‘ project

Partnership with South East Food Hub with

THFF food buyers group

Support of local farmers and discussion around

food security

Shown the Fair Food Film to two enthusiastic

audiences

In terms of research and information we:

Attended local community meetings and confer-

ences regarding relevant topics

Attended Shire workshop regarding local food

security and marketing.

Project groups which are either strength-

ening or beginning to form are:

The FLAME Garden Group Project

Food is Free Tecoma Project

Preserving in the Hills (PITH ) Project

“Grow it “ Group Project

In terms of Promotion we have achieved:

Regular information sharing by way of news-

letters, social media and website

Attendance at a local farmers market

The building of a platform where community

can share ideas and thoughts around all

things Good Food

I very much look forward to a fruitful and

healthy year ahead for THFF . Great work every-

one!” Holly Desmond - President THFF 2015

The Hills Food Frontier thanks the whole

community for the support we have been given

in 2015 and wishes you all the best for a safe and

happy festive season and wonderful new year.

FLAME Garden vegetable boxes

P A G E 5

G O O D F O O D N E W S - D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5

Thank you to all our sponsors for 2015

We would also like to thank the Shire of Yarra Ranges

for funding received for various projects we have accomplished

in 2015 and have set for 2016

P A G E 6

Hills Happenings... Tecoma FLAME Garden Working Bees

Stay tuned via the website for

dates in 2016

Grow it! Gatherings

Stay tuned via the website for

dates in 2016

Food Truck Fridays

84 Main St Upwey from

5.30pm

The Herb Society Monthly on 3rd Wednesday

8pm at Belgrave Library

Upwey Garden Club Monthly on 2nd Wednesday

8pm at Upwey Hall

Permaculture Breakfast Every Sunday 10.30-11.30am at

Abitza Cafe, Upwey

Ranges Organic Growers

Association (ROGA) Monthly on last Fri-

day “The Studio” Corner

Alma Ave & The Avenue,

Ferntree Gully Lwr 7:45pm

Community Gardening

Monday mornings at

Coonara CH

Cooking Club

Last Tuesday each month,

11-1pm at Kallista CH.

Call to book in.

Dig In Cafe Last Friday of every month at

Emerald CH

Tucker at the Tin Shed

Free meals twice a month

every 2nd and 4th Tuesday, 5-

6.30pm Belgrave

Community Harvest Din-

ners Shared meals on the first

Thursday of every month.

Different venue every month.

Call Christina on 0424 100

420

Upwey Food Swap

Last Saturday each month

outside Magpie House from 10

-11am. Swap, sell or buy local

fruit, veg, herbs and plants.

Call Michelle on 0409 526 862

Bee Keeping Club

Monthly on 2nd Wednesday

7.30pm at Coonara CH

COMMUNITY HOUSE

Contact Numbers

Belgrave Sth CH: 9754 2274

Cockatoo CH: 59688 9031

Coonara CH: 9758 7081

Emerald CH: 5968 3881

Kallista CH: 9755 2622

Olinda CH: 9751 1264

Selby CH: 9754-2039

LOCAL MARKETS:

Belgrave Big Dreams Second Sunday monthly in St

Thomas Moores Primary

School grounds

Belgrave Farmers

Market Second and fourth Saturday of

the month at Mater Christi

College car park from 8.30am

Belgrave South First Sunday monthly at the

primary school. Produce from

8.30am

Emerald Second Saturday monthly, in

Emerald Village

Gembrook Fourth Sunday monthly 9-3pm

at Gembrook Railway Station

Kallista First Saturday monthly in the

Village Green

Monbulk Produce Market Second Saturday monthly from

8am in St George’s car park

Mt Evelyn Last Saturday monthly at RSL

49 Birmingham Road

Cockatoo

First Saturday month in

Cockatoo

G O O D F O O D N E W S - D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5

Find your way

around all the good

food activities in

The Hills . . .

E-mail: thff@hotmail.com

Check out all the latest news at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/

The-Hills-Food-Frontier

Get Involved at:

https://www.facebook.com/

groups/539055269540892/

Go to:

www.hillsfoodfrontier.com

“Growing, Cooking, Sharing and Learning about good food in The Hills”

A big thank you

goes to James

Merlino MP,

State Member for

Monbulk in

assisting us to

print this

newsletter