This week, relocalisation group SustainaBundy donated several crates, buckets and bags of organically grown tomatoes to two local charities: Bundaberg and District Meals on Wheels, who make over 250 meals a day for those in need in the local community, and Christian Outreach Centre, who provide food packages for the disadvantaged.

SustainaBundy secretary Jacqui McLucas discovered that a local small scale farmer had stopped watering, because his crop wasn't proving economically viable. "Rather than let the tomatoes go to waste, the farmer was happy to have us quickly rally the SustainaBundy troops to pick the fruit for worthy causes," Ms. McLucas said. Even a few minutes of rain during the picking didn't hamper their volunteer efforts. "Many hands really did make light work; in just an hour six of us were able to fill every container we had available!"

"We're working with local farmers, cafes and restaurants to create CSA relationships so the farmers don't get left behind like this again," said SustainaBundy president Dean Hazelwood. CSA, or community supported agriculture, involves businesses and community members becoming "shareholders" in a farm by paying the farmer in advance for produce. CSA, which has proven successful in Japan, Switzerland, the US and even in Beerwah and Brisbane, supports the farmer through the entire growing season while directly providing the shareholders with fresh, regular produce.

Mr Hazelwood said, "the great thing about CSA is that with a healthy relationship in place between the community and the growers, the produce has a much higher chance of success and there is still plenty of fresh, good quality produce available for charity." To learn more about community supported agriculture or to get involved with SustainaBundy, visit www.sustainabundy.org.

Volunteers, wearing SustainaBundy's second hand workshirts, quickly picked an abundance of fresh tomatoes to go to charity.