National Food Plan Consultation

YesterdayI went to to the first National food plan consultation in Berwick. As the website states: "The aim of the national food plan is to foster a sustainable, globally competitive, resilient food supply that supports access to nutritious and affordable food." It was an interesting experience. People from local councils, local primary producers, representatives from the DPI and from a local permaculture group (us) and members of the Frankston Food Access Network as well as regular citizens concerned about the issue spoke up. It was a very interesting and there was predictably a variety of viewpoints expressed. These were expressed in a respectful manner and I learnt a lot from listening to these.  (Things to follow up on: AgChatOz and Food Security group on Yahoo). I did get a chance to speak up, but if I had had 18 minutes to speak I might have expressed a few of these thoughts as well (Roger Doiron is founding director of Kitchen Gardeners International, a network of people taking a hands-on approach to re-localising the global food supply.)  His video "A Subversive Plot: How to Grow a Revolution in Your Own Backyard" (below) is so inspiring.
Try and get to a meeting if you can, or submit a written submission by September 30, 2012. Follow the progress of the Food plan development on the blog or through twitter.

Casey Council wants your feedback

Casey Council is seeking feedback from residents on a draft Food Security Policy.

The policy notes that:

"A large number of Casey residents are currently at risk of food insecurity. It is expected that in the future the community will be further impacted by food price rises and shortages due to adverse environmental conditions, water shortages, loss of agricultural land, peak oil, and cost of essential services."

The food security policy is intended to:

address five key areas in order to improve community food access; recognising that planning and acting now can have a positive impact for Casey in the future.

Makes sense to me. Please have a look at it and comment if you wish. We will be discussing this at the next meeting on March 7. We would love to hear your thoughts and possibly put in a group response, if this is thought appropriate. The consultation closes on March 9.