SustainaBundy Guidebook and Status meeting

Tue, 2007-11-06 21:30 — dino

Today we had a good meeting with 5 members present. Covered a lot of ground in a little over 2 hours.

Topics discussed:
Upcoming Movie Night(s) - the 14th showing The Power of Community, and a second scheduled for the 28th (topic to be decided based on feedback and interest)

The guide - progress to date. Andi mentioned this in a previous post. shine_on is making fantastic progress with local businesses. 3 new potential advertisers.

Formal meetings - in order to start formalising the structure of SustainaBundy we need to elect management positions. President, Secretary and Treasure. Any volunteers?

Move to incorporate - paperwork is being drafted for voting on to incorporate SustainaBundy and from there the need to get insurance to cover members and a bank account to take donations and deposits from advertisers. We need to have at least one formal meeting and elect management before we can incorporate.

Wisdom Workshops - plenty of older residents of Bundy have great skills that they may like to share.

Work Shirts - where can they be found. Keep an eye out at local op shops. Screen printing also needs to be investigated. I will follow up with Greg at the Greens meeting as he was mentioned as a good person to talk to. I have also looked around for a local supplier of materials and came across one in Brisbane.

Parents Baby Sitting Club - working with P&F groups in schools to build relationships.

LETS - Katoomba LETS was a very successful cooperative in the Blue Mountains in the early 90's. Defunct since 2000. Not sure how that happened.

Buying Local Produce -
Supporting a local farmers market, farmers need to want it in order for it to happen. Idea of local producers diversifying in order to sell more locally.

Neighbourhood Watch - I called up my local coordinator and volunteered to help and will make it to the next meeting. Have you?

Solar Hot Water versus Solar Electric - there will be an article in the guide on this. Some ideas on saving hot water were discussed. Possiblity of a Solar Hot water drive. Maleny did one earlier this year and had 60 households get 30 percent off a system!

Of course there was plenty more tangental discussions.
If I missed some let me know. If you have extra questions reply to this as well.

Dean

SustainaBundy guide howto meeting update Bundaberg movie night

664 reads
dino's blog
Login or register to post comments

Comments

gelbat
November 7th, 2007

Farmers Market

Hi Dean

I had a meeting this morning with the Tradestart Export Advisor in Bundaberg, Frank Smith. I asked him about BITI funding, which will become available in December. It turns out this is more for community based projects, rather than individual growers.

Guess what a local farmers market would be? Yep, a community based project which would create and/or maintain jobs, and be a worthwhile community project. Frank was interested in what I suggested to him and is going to put it on the agenda for a meeting to be held tomorrow. It may be possible for Sustainabundy to get a grant to start a local farmers market. What we need to do is get an idea of how many farmers would support this idea, and where the market would be located.

I will be meeting with Frank again next week, and will raise this issue again. It seems he is very interested in supporting something like this.

As discussed, a farmers market will also be put on the agenda for the next BFVG board meeting.

Regards

Max

tamarakelly
November 8th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market

You already have Gin Gin every Saturday, Shaloam every Sunday and Collaipe (sp?) once a month. What more do you need? Why stretch the resources even further?

I suggest you expand on these exisiting market places because people already go there every week for their good priced FRESH fruit and veg.

Gin Gin has at least 60 stalls every weekend with 1/2 of them selling local produce.

You could use a fraction of that money to better promote the exisiting markets to the public and the farmers and perhaps set up a stall for Sustainabundy to get the word out there.

Tam

gelbat
November 8th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market

The difference is that these markets usually have the seconds, which are not good enough to send to the central markets. And they are often not farmers selling their own produce. The farmers market idea is to also help the farmers, who are hurting badly at the moment.

Farmers can supply better quality, fresher produce at better prices than any of these markets. But it must not be sold by someone else marking it up.

If you don't support the farmers directly, you will get lower quality produce (the stuff we throw out).

Max

tamarakelly
November 8th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market

I can see a need for a DAILY WHOLESALE MARKET for onsellers, restaurant and food processing businesses but I can not see any need for another retail direct-to-public farmer's market (eg Marina Mirage Gold Coast). Currently a lot of onsellers' stock comes from Melbourne and Brisbane Valley which we would like to see stop.

With regard to the Gin Gin Saturday market (I am the secretary of the organisation who run the markets and the president is a fruit farmer):

Foodwise - we have both farmers and onsellers at the Gin Gin markets with a range of quality.

We NEED the onsellers because they bring in those things which are not local (eg apples) and they sell product FOR locals who don't have enough product or time to set up a stall BUT the farmers and small producers are our mainstays. Each week/seasonally we have lettuce, tomatoes, honey, bananas, chooks, plants, citrus, avocadoes etc... all sold directly by the farmers themselves. Their product is always pretty good quality (better than the onsellers) and it is sold for a rational price.

We do regulate our markets so that people can make money in the following ways:

1) We restrict the number of onsellers - we have only 6 onsellers - and we like them to source locally. Everyone else has to have grown the product themselves (we average 65 stalls each week - 1/3 to 1/2 are food)

2) We do not allow seconds "dumps". If someone is obviously onselling dumped produce we send them packing but usually they don't even get through the gate.

3) Restricited quantity - it is strictly a retail market - we do not do wholesale which can damage people's income badly. If people want to buy wholesale they can make private arrangements with the farmer. What I mean is a farmer can turn up with a bin of product to sell but he can't sell BINS so cheaply that the arse drops out of the market. We don't allow price fixing but nor do we allow people to undercut because farmers have to make a living.

We find local farmers come EVERY week and make sure they have product to sell (they don't just sell their spare stuff) because the money is a lot better locally than what they get from the middlemen.

I personally would like to see more value-adding done locally. It is starting to happen here in GG. Linetts are growing, drying and packaging their tomatoes with garlic, oil and herbs (and selling it to Japan). GG needs a juicing & drying factory for the excess and lower quality fruit & veg.

Thought: Locally we need another carbohydrate crop other than sweet potato. A grain of some sort perhaps to replace some of the sugar cane. Ideas? Salt tolerant rice?

Tam

belengere
November 8th, 2007

Farmers Market

Hi,

This thread is interesting as not so long ago myself and a friend applied to the B'berg Council to start a farmers market.

We were wanting to see a market that offered high quality, local organic goods, which we think there is a real need for.

I agree we have a good range of local produce offered at both markets, but much is laced with toxic chemicals, so there is a

need for a healthier alternative.

We were however knocked back for the very reason someone mentioned previously, two local established markets.

Kathy

dino
November 8th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market

I think there is plenty of room for existing growing methods,
hydroponic, organic and anything else. The consumer can make the
decision at the point of sale if they want to pay more for one over the
other. Right now I don't believe that option is being given to the
consumer or the farmer.

A true farmers market/co-operative won't work with out the farmers
driving it.

Doing a quick search I came across two great articles on farmers markets
in the Australian magazine Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses.

http://hydroponics.com.au/php/viewtopic.php?t=70
http://hydroponics.com.au/php/viewtopic.php?t=71

CSA - Community Supported/Shared/Sponsored Agriculture also has a
mention. This is another option for people looking to buy local.

Well worth the read.

Dean

tamarakelly
November 9th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market

Good articles - that's pretty much what's happening at our Gin Gin markets. They were started by Gloria & Joe (cane farming couple) to give locals a place to sell their produce. Layla & John McLaren developed them further as a way to hothouse cottage industries. And now we're into the third generation of management where the market size is growing slowly in keeping with the size of the town. Mind you there are still a lot of people who still shop in Bundy.

The local shops hated it to start with because they thought that the markets would kill their business instead they're flourishing because people don't have to drive to Bundy to shop for their basics each week and they gladly pick up the extras at local shops. As a result an IGA will be built next year in Gin Gin. We also find a lot of our social life is conducted at the markets. If I sit with a coffee long enough the whole town will pass by.

But back to the topic I don't think you need to start a NEW market if it is to be retail - just talk to the organisers about what you would like to see change and ideas to make it happen. I'm sure they will be all ears.

If you want a new market it needs to be wholesale and bulk to the restaurants etc...

must go...tired...drooping...eyes closing...zzz

dino
November 9th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market

Tamara, that was an excellent post. It conveyed a lot of information and
history for us and made us understand your perspective. Well thought out
"arguments" educate us all. I am glad the local businesses benefited - I
think this proves the theory that people will shop local if given the
option. And we did the same thing when living near Biggenden. Pop into
the Gin Gin Markets and get the fruit and veg then the paper and a loaf
of bread or two and some sliced pepperoni and then home. Cheaper than a
trip to Bundy and a lot less time.

I love the part about the social life of the markets - not something
that has been raised here. Gin Gin's layout allows for that flow past
the seated area with people having a bite to eat or a coffee. So people
can stop by and chat. Shalom kind of dead ends at the cafeteria area.
Which makes it difficult for that walking by effect. Shalom school can't
really change that to suit the markets as that area for the school for 5
days of the week. But a study of traffic flow may be in order.

Thinking of some cool markets I have been to. Adelaide has 6 day markets
- they may be seven days now. Right next to the Coles just off Victoria
Square in the Centre of Adelaide. I used to buy my tins and packet food
in Coles and have them deliver it for an extra $3. Then pop next door
for a coffee or sandwich and buy my fruit, veg, fish and meat and walk
home. My Coles goods would be outside my door or arriving any minute
after I got home. The adelaide Central Markets has 120 shops!

Check it out at http://www.touradelaide.com/adelaide_central_market.html

This is definitely a discussion that needs to be round tabled. Has
Shalom reached its size limit? If twenty new producers wanted to show
there wares and buying traffic rose 30 percent. Would it still be
feasible in its current form?

Dean

Bundy Bell
November 15th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market

Rather than start up another venue for the farmer's market, why not
capitalise on the customers already going to Shalom markets of a
Sunday.

Farmers selling their own produce take a stall in their own right, but
have a generic banner saying that they are a member of Sustainabundy
with logo etc.

Only financial members can display this banner. Flyers promoting the
movement be made available.

Another thought would be to have a Sustainabundy stall shared by a
number of farmers that have produce for sale in season. This would need
a co-ordinator to organise and also to check on/police, that the
produce being sold is local etc.

Jacques Rohen
November 15th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market

Excellent proposition!
Makes good sense, because you will tap into Shalom's substantial
customer base, which is much bigger then what you would attract to a new
venue!

tamarakelly
November 9th, 2007

Farmers Market - social aspect

A new market: If you decide to start a new market make it a mid-week one so that the growers get expanded opportunities and it is not seen as a challenege to Shaloam because no matter what the emphasis is people will still take a negative view. Nevertheless, a mid-week market will attract a completely different client base. Perhaps Tuesday? Farmers harvest on Monday deliver Tuesday and the restaurants and onsellers will have nice fresh food for the week. 4am start so people can shop and have the freshest produce in their kitchens when their restaurant opens at 9.

Space: No need for Shaloam to expand. There is a gradual turnover of stallholders and they can simply be replaced. Some onsellers will also leave when they realise the farmers are moving in. On the other hand the management should have a long term view of what they want their markets to be and can begin to pick and chose who they want to come in. This keeps prices steady and stops every stall from becoming a "crazy clark". BUT they have to be careful they don't end up like the Surfers Paradise markets where everything is terribly expensive.

The Gin Gin Management's long term view is to have a full time *working* historical village which also means continual markets but I think this might be a few years away yet. Consider establishing another retail market when the fruit & veg retailers are sold out by 10am then there'll be no sense of competition.

Social aspects: I see our markets as a vehicle for social networking. When I write grants for the Historical Society I always emphasise the great communication that goes on there and how it helps people maintain the town, joins the generations and hopefully prevents some of the depression which is pervading our society. It is hard to be sad at a market!

gotta go & catch the markets (food glorious food)

Tam

tamarakelly
November 10th, 2007

Farmers Market - invite

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">

I had a chat to our committee today and they would like to invite you to come to a general meeting early next year.

Usually it's Saturday market and meetings on the 2nd Saturday of the month at 1pm.

No agenda - just an open invite to have a look-see and chat to the stall holders and people who run it.

ahazelwood
November 10th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market - invite

Thanks for the invite to the meeting - obviously with all the work on
the guide we're going to be extremely busy until it comes out. Assuming
we're able to release it on time (February) we might be able to attend
the February meeting, or maybe March if we're slowed down. Cheers!

tamarakelly
November 9th, 2007

locavore challenge

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">

When do you want to start the locavore challenege?

Tam

ahazelwood
November 8th, 2007

community supported agriculture was: Farmers Market

(just a request to the group, when you hit reply please delete of the old conversation below your reply - this will make it much easier for people trying to follow this conversation on the website. I've deleted the extranneous stuff on the site for readability, but I'd prefer it if you guys did it before you hit "send" - Thanks folks!)

I think Community Supported Agriculture is a really exciting concept. Here's part of the description from FoodConnect:

"Old wisdom in a new package, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is revolutionising the way food is produced and distributed around the world.

In response to an increasingly globalised food system, and the corresponding, social, environmental and health problems which it poses, communities around the world have been developing a different vision for food production and distribution. CSA is a concept which encourages local, environmentally sustainable food production, and which supports both farmers and 'consumers' alike.

The CSA concept originated in the 1960s in Switzerland and Japan, where consumers interested in safe food and farmers seeking stable markets for their crops joined together in economic partnerships. Called "teikei" in Japan, it translates to "putting the farmers' face on food".

CSA is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm (producer) and a community of supporters (consumers) which provides a direct economic and social link between the production and consumption of food. Although CSA's take many forms, the essence is that supporters cover all, or part of a farm's yearly operating budget by committing to purchasing a share of the season's harvest - up front. There is no agent or distributor between the customer and the farmer. All subscriber funds are directed to the Farm or activities, which support the community-supported agriculture arrangement.

CSA members make a commitment to support the farm throughout the season, and assume the costs, risks and bounty of growing food along with the farmer. Members help pay for seeds, fertilizer, water, equipment maintenance, labour, etc. In return, the farm provides, to the best of its ability, a healthy supply of seasonal fresh produce throughout the growing season. Farmers can determine with certainty what to plant based on the growing plan arranged with the group. Becoming a member creates a responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the land on which it is grown and the people who grow it.

The CSA movement has been growing rapidly in the US and in Europe, with over 2000 CSA projects in the US and Canada by the early 1990's. Some farms supplying up to 4000 families directly and in Japan 5,000,000 families are supplied in this way. In Denmark 40,000 families are supplied by the basket system. It is not proposed as the only alternative way to 'do' food, but it is model that has proven to work for many thousands of communities and farmers around the world. "

cornonthecob
November 25th, 2007

CSA

Love the idea of a CSA, tis my intention to set one up in the Bundaberg area.

Rubyglow
November 9th, 2007

Re: community supported agriculture was: Farmers Market

I totally agree Andi, the CSA concept is really exciting stuff and certainly caught my attention. It is a fantastic way of producing and is maybe an avenue for the local farmers of to consider?

gelbat
November 8th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market

Don't give up. One person on their own may be rejected, but a group of people, backed by the local Tradestart Advisor has a much better chance of success.

I agree on the produce at these markets, should be better. Also, hydroponic produce is high quality nutritious, low chemical use.

The problem with the local markets is that they are only on a weekend.

The proposed farmers market would be open several days of the week.

Max

tamarakelly
November 8th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market

Organinc produce is favoured by many people therefore I reccommend you encourage a section of the existing markets to be designated for organic produce OR you ask the sellers to label organic produce. Sustainabundy could easily approach the sellers and make them aware of the demand for organic produce and ask for them to label their stock. I suppose you also realise that to label food as "Organic" requires certification? 3 years chemical free and only very specific chemicals are allowed. The alternative you may consider is "Chemical Free" option. This only requires no chemicals used on the farm for 1 year.

Nevertheless, on a subnote: please have a hard think about the concept of ORGANIC.

I used to be a keen advocate for organic but though working for CSIRO & now I have an olive farm and live and work closely with farmers I have learned a LOT about the new farming models.

Organicly farmed land has lower production and therefore MORE land needs to be taken to produce the same amount of food increasing the carbon footprint. Also a LOT more physical labour is involved and consumers simply refuse to pay the price for this.

Learn more about those chemicals and how they are actually used. Make sure your knowledge is UP TO DATE. There is plenty of erroneous information out there screaming about how toxic everything is. These days there are stringent guidelines to what can go onto the crops, how it is applied and when it is used. When is doubt read the studies about the chemical. They're usually available online.

Look at the new farming techniques which are taking over. Many farmers are now moving to no-til methods, biological pest control and a variety of enviro-friendly techniques. They're looking positively green.

Here is a well balanced article from Cosmos which I subscribe to (this science magazine offsets its carbin footprint with tree planting etc... and buys its paper from tree farms) http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1567

ahazelwood
November 10th, 2007

organic vs. not

Tamara, you mention that you grow organically mainly out of laziness. From what I've seen, organic takes a lot of effort! Pest bags on fruit to make sure it doesn't get stung, careful design consideration, companion planting, more physical labour (as you yourself mentioned). That doesn't sound lazy to me at all! Or is there something different about your farm?

The organic debate is a strong one - and I can see both sides of the issue. Even though I lean heavily towards the pro-organic, pro-natural side of things, I do keep in mind a point mentioned in this article - "Hemlock, cyanide and arsenic are all quite natural."

However, I see going organic as a necessity, as fossil fuel supplies that are used to make herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers become more expensive and difficult to source. This is one of the main points of the Cuba DVD that we'll be watching Wednesday night - Cuba became 80% organic with the help of some Australian permaculturalists, because it was either that or starve. I think we have much to learn from Cuba. I also think we need to place importance on heirloom and open pollination varieties that are in danger of extinction, rather than creating new varieties in a lab as touted in the Cosmos article. The comments at the end of the article are an interesting look at how heated the GMO debate really is. After watching The Future of Food I personally have very strong opinions against GMOs.

We all are going to have different opinions on the best ways to grow food - but when it comes right down to it, they aren't that important. Relocalisation is SustainaBundy's main, overriding goal. This involves smaller, more diverse, more plentiful farms, and more local and direct trading. The farmer and consumer will know each other personally, and this will change the way business is done. This is total hearsay, but it illustrates my point: while talking to a farmer recently, a local certified organic producer was mentioned. The farmer mentioned that even though that producer was certified organic, they'd been seen spraying a non-organic chemical. When asked about it, the producer said that the chemical in question doesn't show up in tests so they saw no reason not to use it. This is disappointing to me, but not really surprising. For the producer it's strictly a money issue- they don't know their customers personally, why should they care if they're lying to them? This kind of attitude will change for the better with relocalisation, and in the opposite direction as well - as the consumer becomes more intimately aware of the plight of the farmer, because the farmer is their friend and neighbour, they will come to understand the true cost of their food and won't simply look for the rock-bottomest price.

belengere
November 8th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market

Hi,

I hope I am up to date, I try to manage my farm using permaculture and organic principles,

have completed a number of courses in the same, and try to be informed by scientific research,

rather than misinformation and propaganda.

Regardless of cost, my $ would go to organic produce any day, hence our interest in an organic farmers market.

Kathy

tamarakelly
November 9th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market

Well done! It's a lot of work and in a city area where organic preference is high you can earn top dollar from your produce. I've gotta laugh - my farm is organic too - no chemicals applied for 6 years - but primarialy through laziness.

But again - no need to make a separate market for organic produce - if the produce is located somewhere else people won't bother to go because they won't be able to buy everything they need.

dino
November 7th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market

Hi Max, great stuff. Now we definitely need some more like minded
farmers. I just looked up BITI funding:

"Business and Industry Transformation Incentives (BITI) will replace a
number of existing business grants, including the Queensland Industry
Development Scheme known as QIDS. The minimum incentive under the new
scheme is lifted from $5,000 to $30,000 and the maximum from $50,000 to
$250,000."

That is potentially some serious funding. I think that an incorporated
SustainaBundy can add a lot of value to an application but without the
drive from local producers it won't go far. The scope of this project
could be so varied. Besides BFVG what other avenues are there to solicit
feedback for a farmers market?

If you would like me to come along to the next meeting with Frank let me
know. I'll also get you some good info for the BFVG meeting on
SustainaBundy.

Dean

gelbat
November 7th, 2007

Re: Farmers Market

Dean

Frank knows a lot of local growers and said that the range of local produce that could be made available would be very wide. Anything from beans, macadamias, potatoes, melons, zucchinis, pumpkins, citrus, tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicums, herbs, spring onions, lettuce, strawberries, etc. The notable exceptions would be carrots, stone fruit and apples. We really are sitting in the middle of a major "salad bowl" production area of Australia.

I think with his knowledge and our determination it would be a success.

Max

Group menu