Australia: Push on to grow local food systems in Canberra
It’s estimated 90 per cent of Canberra’s leafy vegetables and fruit come from the Sydney region alone.
By Ellen Blake
The Canberra Times
Feb 27, 2022
“I’ve been growing food for about 30 years. I love eating our own food because there are no chemicals on it. Its full of great nutrients and very healthy,” Ms Buining said.
The passion led to the creation of a business selling microgreens to Canberra restaurants.
Ainslie Urban Farm operates on permaculture principles, a human-centred approach to designing sustainable systems.
“I wanted to grow microgreens using a sustainable closed-loop business model. So I grow in an organic potting mix that I buy in bulk. I don’t use any nutrients or chemicals, they’re just purely soil-grown and all the nutrients required for the plants are actually in the soil,” Ms Buining said.
“And I grow in recycled plastic trays that are made in Australia. And I collect all those trays each week and wash them and reuse them.”
The ACT government is hoping more people follow the Ainslie Urban Farm’s lead, opening community consultation for its Capital Food and Fibre Strategy in an effort to build local food systems and increase food security.
In the project jointly funded by the territory government and the Australian government’s Future Drought Fund, the strategy would provide a roadmap to deliver social, environmental and economic benefits based on secure, climate-resilient food and fibre production across the ACT.
