A Sustainable Hour powered on solar and aired live on FM and streaming from The Farmer’s Place on ‘Mini Farmer’s Day’, 30 March 2016 – an event which kicked off the annual ‘Eat Local Month’ in Geelong.
Guests in the hour:
• Sarah Bolus, Eat Local Month (2:00–3:50)
• Steven Hunter, The Farmer’s Place and Closed Loop (5:30–18:00)
• Kelly Pearson, participant (20:20–21:35)
• David Walker, Deakin University, prerecorded interview (22:30–26:50)
• Cassidy Fitzclarence, Bottle for Botol (30:30–35:00)
• Lorna Martin, Permaculture Geelong (35:00–42:00)
• Luke Wakefield, chef, The Farmer’s Place (44:50–50:37)
• James McLennan, sustainability instructor, The Farmer’s Place (52:55–56:00)
• … and four songs
Listen to The Sustainable Hour no. 115:
» To open or download this programme in mp3-format, right-click here (Mac: CTRL + click)
» Subscribe to ‘The Sustainable Hour’ podcast — via iTunes or via your own podcast/RSS software
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Sarah Bolus is the passionate organiser of the Eat Local Month initiative. The Mini Farmer’s Day is an Eat Local event, so this is a perfect place and time to catch up on how the Eat Local campaign is going.
Steven Hunter works at Closed Loop and was involved in building The Farmer’s Place. He talks about the sustainable elements that they have in place: solar panels, use of recycled materials, waste water treatment, and more.
Jack Nyhof: Why have you come here?
Kelly: “Just to teach our daughter a little bit more about what is going on in the place she lives in and have a little bit of fun along the way.”
So is sustainability a passion of yours?
“I wouldn’t call it a passion, but it is definitely important, especially since having a child, yeah!”
Why do you think it is important to have sustainable practices in place as a mother?
“To teach her about how to look after herself, and look after the planet, and how to be more conscious of the things she eats, where they come from, and the energy she uses, and how we get to live the life that we do, but do it in a sustainable way.”
Are you fearful that climate change may have some bad effects on the planet and jeopardise the future of your children or even their grandchildren?
“Yes. Absolutely, yes.”
Cassidy Fitzclarence talks about Bottle for Botol – a project which works with schools in the region to prevent plastic cups and bottles from entering Indonesian waste streams.
Luke Wakefield is the head chef at The Farmer’s Place who is passionate about using local, seasonal and sustainably produced foods.
Lorna Martin is co-founder of Permaculture Geelong, organises monthly food-swaps, runs several community gardens, and co-hosts the radio show Dig It on 94.7 The Pulse. Permaculture Geelong was established on International Permaculture Day in May 2014 following a successful ‘permablitz’ at the Lara Community Garden & Arts Precinct. The group meets monthly at different locations where hands-on activities are organised.
James McLennan runs a number of educational activities for the children on the day and will be developing a sustainability education program with us at The Farmer’s Place. He is a resident of Anglesea and is a facilitator and assessor for the ResourceSmart Schools Program – a Victorian Government program that helps schools benefit from embedding sustainability in everything they do. We talk with James about his activities with the children and about the importance of hands-on sustainability education for kids.
The Pulse’s radio team in the field. Photo by Alex Aidt.
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» Survey: What Geelong’s councillors think about climate change
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David Walker
Professor David Walker from Deakin University talked at Session 4, ‘Food a vital resource: Feeding Australia, feeding the world’, at the inaugural Geelong Environmental Film Festival in Geelong on 21 February 2016.
» Read more about local food production in Geelong on www.geelongsustainability.org.au
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The Farmer’s Place
“We love what we do!” The staff at the Farmer’s Place all seems to agree on this slogan. They grow vegetables and run a small farm sustainably, and use it to cook wholesome meals with fresh seasonal produce in the café and restaurant. On their website, they write:
“We are striving not to waste anything and to reuse as much as possible. We are supporting our local farmers through our farm gate market and showcasing the best the region has to offer. We are passionate about what we are doing and look forward to welcoming you to our place.”
The Farmer’s Place won the Sustainable Business Award at the Geelong Business Excellence Awards. The Farmer’s Place are passionate about kids being able to engage with the food cycle, and its CEO, Rob Pascoe, has previously hosted a number of school excursions at The Farmer’s Place.
Listen to podcast with farmer, business man and entrepreneur Robert Pascoe. He visited us in the Sustainable Studio on 94.7 The Pulse in December 2015:
» The Sustainable Hour on 19 December 2015:
Sustainable business excellence a matter of love
Meet the Producers Dinner on 6 April 2016
A night of great food, wine and conversation
A tribute to the amazing produce found in our region the evening will include a long table shared feast with presentations by local producers, growers and award winning chefs as they each share their knowledge on sourcing seasonal produce as well as their passion for growing it. Chef Luke Wakefield will then prepare a four course meal featuring some of our best local and seasonal meat, seafood and fresh vegetables. Join us for this exciting dinner event not to be missed!
6.30pm – late. $75 per person.
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Pledge to compost
2-8 May 2016 is the International Composting Awareness Week
Did you know that almost half the waste in the average household red lid bin consists of kitchen and garden organic materials? Most of this can be composted. A 2015 City of Greater Geelong survey shows that 50% of waste collected could have been utilised in the outdoor area where it came from.
» www.facebook.com/ICAWaustralia
Setting up a compost or worm farm
One use for your waste is setting up a compost or worm farm. If you are unable to use composted material or do not have room for a compost system, check out if a neighbor would like your green/household food waste to feed their chickens, compost or worm farm.
For inspiration watch Rob Bob’s video on how to build a bathtub worm farm from recycled materials:
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LOCAL & GREEN
Notes and news
Things we also had wanted to tell you about in the Sustainable Hour before we ran out of time
Help planting the M~M Green Corridor
The Green Corridor tree planting project is a component of the M~M Extreme Arts Walk, Geelong’s 80 km Extreme Arts Walk, on 6-7 May. The planting project is an inclusive project where people with and without disabilities work together to care for our local habitat. All plants have been propagated at Karingal’s community nursery. The propagated plants have been carefully selected in consultation with Parks Victoria to ensure that they are indigenous to their planting site.
The first planting is taking place on Wednesday 13 April 2016 at Big Rock, the You Yangs, between 10am and 12noon.
This planting is a part of the long term vision to revegetate the local habitat with plantings of Indigenous species of grasses, trees and shrubs. The “Green Corridor” strategy is connecting local communities and revegetation organisations together to care for the eleven songline corridors across the 80km walk, so that the region can retain its natural beauty, and it is fitting that Karingal’s first planting is at the You Yangs.
If you would like to participate in the first M~M planting please contact Caroline Moore by either phone or email:
» Caroline Moore, Karingal Foundation, phone 03 52221484, e-mail: carolinem@karingal.org.au
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Danish supermarket selling food waste
Rather than trying to provide cheap groceries for poor people, Danish supermarket WeFood is focused on the environmental issues associated with wasted foods.
» SBS – 25 February 2016:
The supermarket that wants everyone to buy food waste
www.sbs.com.au
“Rather than trying to provide cheap groceries for poor people, Danish supermarket WeFood is focused on the environmental issues associated with wasted foods.”
» Facebook page [in Danish]: www.facebook.com/WefoodOverskudsmad
» Home page: www.we-food.dk
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Victorian forage cookbook
‘Forage Cookbook’ is a love letter to the state of Victoria; it is a collection of recipes, stories and gorgeous photographs from chefs, producers, restaurants and food folk from around Victoria, with the added benefit of sharing the spoils with local charity Upside Nepal to create and support agriculture enterprise in Nepal.
Forage is a way to change the world, to help those less fortunate, all wrapped up in the guise of a simple cookbook, albeit a beautifully designed cookbook with stunning photography and recipes from iconic chefs from around Victoria. Forage captures a snapshot of the food industry as it is right now; a celebration of excellence, environment and inspiration.
The recipes and pictures for the book were sourced and photographed during an epic 3,000+km road trip, criss-crossing the state, visiting the people and places that make the extensive Victorian culinary scene one of the world’s most diverse and exciting.
Forage tracks the journey from Producer to Cook to Dinner. It features some of Victoria’s highest quality producers from farmers of organic vegetables to ethically raised pigs, from impeccably cultured butter in the mountains to wild herbs foraged by the streams of Melbourne. This incredible produce finds its way into the 120+ recipes in the book, running the full gamut from fine to casual food. Forage celebrates the connection between where our food comes from and how it arrives on our plate through the contribution of a group of committed and passionate food folk.
But enough grandiloquent grandstanding, let’s get down to the best bit. Forage is a social enterprise: we are sharing the spoils with local charity Upside Nepal to create and support agriculture businesses in Nepal. Forage aims to raise $100k for Upside.
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Food waste has a whole lot to do with attitude
You could take the approach that because your bananas have some brown spots, or the onion has started sprouting in the cupboard, you’ll throw them away. But why would you when you could mash up those bananas and make some banana pumpkin bread, or turn that onion into the perfect topping for these heavenly sweet potatoes?
Store your food correctly, and in the right conditions to keep it safe from spoiling early and use your common sense when it comes to food expiration labels.
‘use-by’: foods must be eaten or thrown away by the date
• After this date, foods may be unsafe to eat even if they look fine because the nutrients in the food may become unstable or a build-up of bacteria may occur.
• It is illegal to sell foods after a ‘use-by’ date.
• Common ‘use-by’ foods include milk, sliced ham and shaved meats.
‘best before’: foods are still safe to eat after the date as long as they are not damaged, deteriorated or perished
• The ‘best before’ date simply indicates that the product may lose some of its quality after this date passes.
• Foods can be legally sold after a ‘best before’ date as long as they are not damaged, deteriorated or perished.
• You can expect these foods to retain their colour, taste, texture and flavour as long as they are stored correctly.
• Common ‘best before’ foods include canned foods, cereals, biscuits, sauces, chocolate, sugar, flour and frozen foods.
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LitterALLY
Excerpts from Sustainability Victoria’s newsletter, edition 48, April 2016
Tools to reduce food waste
Sustainability Victoria recently published an online toolkit for its ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ campaign.
The campaign aims to reduce the large amounts of food unnecessarily wasted by consumers and households by focussing on the four key areas of planning menus, shopping for food, and cooking and storing it.
The Love Food Hate Waste website is a great portal to learn about the environmental consequences of wasted food, saving on grocery bills, recipes for waste minimisation and a guide to running a ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ community or workplace event. The videos are especially useful.
There are also two new mobile apps to help reduce food waste, one for consumers and the other for vendors. The Yume for food outlets guides cafes and restaurants to sell food about to be wasted at half price, and the consumer version of Yume gives customers a way to find them!
Funding for organic waste diversion
Local councils keen to reduce the amount of organic waste going to landfill can apply for a grant via the Federal Government’s Emissions Reduction Fund. The funding is specifically for new projects that separate organics from waste before heading to a landfill. The aim is to treat organic waste separately, for instance by composting or biodigestion methods.
Events and occasions
6 May – Entries to the KBV Tidy Towns – Sustainable Communities Awards close (contact Cat Morgan for information).
5 June – World Environment Day.
6 June – 2016 World Environment Day Awards at ZINC, Federation Square, Melbourne.
15 July – Sustainable Cities Awards event, Melbourne.
All year – KESAB Environmental Solutions (Keep SA Beautiful) is celebrating its 50th birthday in 2016.
Resources
- An updated LLMT spreadsheet is now available with bug fixes.
- Subscribe to Sustainability Victoria’s In the Know and ResourceSmart Schools News here.
- Keep up-to-date with Keep Australia Beautiful via KAB narrator.
- LitterbugSmash is the brainchild of 10 year old Queenslander Hamish – a multi-media educational tool, game play and fundraising initiative to protect oceans and turtles.
Cleaning up plastics
- Researchers have discovered a PET plastic eating bacterium.
- The SeaVax is a solar-powered ship developed by Bluebird Marine Systems which can collect up to 22 million kilograms of plastic a year from oceans.
Marine and waterborne litter
- Go to the interactive (and Australian) website Adrift to learn where objects might end up if washed out to sea from your beach.
- The UK’s RSPCA has a handy pdf brochure you could adapt titled Fishing Litter Hurts Wildlife.
The Wounded Nature organisation is a source of videos, including the emotive How Litter Kills.
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LISTENER SERVICE
Garden and compost music
The songs we played in this Sustainable Hour
Costa: ‘Get Down and Dirty’
Published on www.youtube.com on 28 November 2015.
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Formidable Vegetable Sound System: ‘You Are What You Eat’
Published on www.youtube.com on 7 January 2016.
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Formidable Vegetable Sound System: ‘No Such Thing As Waste’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgZkn56dpk8
Published on www.youtube.com on 16 October 2011.
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Pete Seeger: ‘If It Can’t Be Reduced’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMVmgK5CE24
Published on www.youtube.com on 3 May 2013.
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Podcasts and posts about climate change
Streaming live
» The Sustainable Hour is streamed live on the Internet every Wednesday from 11am to 12pm (Melbourne time):
www.947thepulse.com – click on ‘Listen Live’
Podcast archive
Hours and hours of sustainable podcasts
Listen to all of The Sustainable Hour radio shows in full length and in selected excerpts:
» Archive on climatesafety.info
» Archive on itunes.apple.com – iPhone friendly
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“Participation – that’s what’s gonna save the human race.”
Pete Seeger, American singer