justice, event, food security, growing, urban agriculture, sustain

Explore the role urban agriculture and community empowerment play in securing food justice, by providing access to “Good Food For All”.

Poverty and food insecurity are on the rise in Victoria. Proposed cuts in welfare benefits in the Federal budget will push thousands more of the most vulnerable members of our communities to the brink of hunger.

What can communities and organisations do to help the people most affected?
What is the role of urban agriculture in tackling food insecurity and promoting food justice?
What are the policy and budgetary changes that the Federal and State Governments need to make to guarantee to all the human right to good food?

These are the questions that Sustain’s ‘Growing Justice’ panel will explore.

BOOK YOUR TICKETS HERE: $20 waged, $10 students / low-waged / Sustain members

PANELISTS

Bonnie Soutar / NDG Food Depot

We are thrilled to welcome to Melbourne Bonnie Soutar, Director of Development at Montreal’s pioneering NDG Food Depot. Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG) is a residential neighbourhood of Montreal. The NDG Food Depot mission is “Good Food For All”, the Depot works collaboratively with other community partners to address issues of food security through a diverse range of programs, including “The Good Food Box” free food baskets, “Community Kitchen Workshops”, community meals, after-school cooking programs, collective gardening and urban agriculture workshops.

Bonnie is a passionate problem solver who begun work with the Depot over a decade ago as a volunteer. With only two staff members the Depot managed to distribute over 10,000 emergency baskets of food for 25,000 people!

Susie Scott / FareShare

Susie Scott is the Garden Manager at FareShare, which this year launched a ground-breaking food justice urban farm at Victoria Park in Collingwood.

FareShare is on a mighty mission: To cook a million, nutritious meals a year! Sourcing enough fresh vegetables to meet the growing demand for their service is one of their biggest challenges. To meet the constant demand for fresh quality ingredients and supplement the rescued produce, FareShare is trailing the development of urban food gardens.

Susie has been involved in community food projects as a volunteer, student, and project worker for over 12 years.

Rebecca Lindberg / Right to Food Coalition

Dr Rebecca Lindberg is the Co-Convenor of the Victorian and Tasmanian chapter of the Right to Food Coalition (RTFC). The Right to Food Coalition exists to improve the health and wellbeing of Australians by working to ensure equitable access to nutritious food. RTFC is a coalition of organisations, practitioners, researchers and community workers united in our cause.

Rebecca is a public health researcher and community practitioner, with expertise in areas of food security, organisational evaluation and nutrition inequities. She is passionate about the inclusion of marginalised peoples in all phases of the policy and program cycle. Rebecca is also an Australian Health Policy Collaboration (AHPC) Research Coordinator, her areas of work include national chronic disease prevention, community health and education.