TTKD Nov 2013 meeting: Sustainable Local Food

TTKD Nov 2013 meeting.pdf

TTKD July 13 Meeting: Edible Yards with Sarah Wesche

TTKD July 2013 Meeting - Edible Yards with Sarah Wesche by TransitionKenmore

Thursday July 18

 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start 

 Kenmore Library Meeting Room

As usual the meeting will be followed by supper and conversation. Please feel free to bring along a plate to share (preferably locally produced or homemade!). No need to RSVP.

TTKD April meeting- Permaculture: Sustainable Food

Transition Kenmore May 2012 Meeting: Permaculture and Organic Gardening, Part 1

We are fortunate to have the very knowledgeable Bruce Ham deliver a talk on permaculture and organic gardening.  Bruce will introduce permaculture, discus characterising soils, and identifying soil improvement strategies.

He will pose the following questions:

What do we want to do?
How do we get started?

This meeting will be the first of two permaculture meetings. In June we will have an education officer from Northey Street discussing permaculture at the Northey Street city farm, and how permaculture fits into the Transition movement.

Thursday May 17

7.15pm for a 7.30pm start

Kenmore Library Meeting Room

As usual the meeting will be followed by supper and conversation. Please feel free to bring along a plate to share. No need to RSVP.

Transition Kenmore at the Moggill Markets

Some pictures of Transition Town Kenmore's successful stall at last weekends Moggill Markets.

Photos and captions by Gary

The Stall

These look interesting

Buying some plants

Having a chat

See you there again soon!

Catch Transition Kenmore at the Moggill Markets

Transition Kenmore will be back at the Moggill Markets this Saturday the 3rd of March. We'll be swapping and selling produce from our own gardens and talking about Transition. So feel free to come and say hi.

For those not familiar, the Moggill Markets is our local farmers market held on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month at 550 Brookfield Rd from 6.30am till 11.00am. So if you like buying "straight from the paddock" in a relaxed setting you should check it out.

Some of us at Transition Kenmore fancy ourselves as backyard farmers and so our stall gives us the chance to provide a backyard garden products exchange service and offload surplus mangoes, pumpkins and saplings etc! For any other backyard farmers out there, bring along your surplus fruit and veggies or plants from your garden to swap for something else or sell to those without anything to swap.

If anyone wants to help us promote TTKD by helping man our stall, or if you have some produce from your garden you would like to swap or sell please contact us at: transitionkenmore'at'gmail.com

See you there!

Lets get Brisbane Council onto this!

Council food policy says go organic, go local

Mon, Feb 28, 2011

Council documents, NSW

Adopting ethical eating habits is easiest when done by the individual or household. It’s less easily done at the institutional level, however that is just what the City of Sydney is doing with its new Ethical Food Guidelines.

The guidelines, adopted in late 2010, make the City’s food procurement compliant with its strategic plan – Sustainable Sydney 2030. Developed in-house, the Guidelines cover food procurement for council catering using council funds and for council-managed events. They do not apply to contracted services such as Meals On Wheels, although suppliers have been requested to work towards compliance with the Guidelines.

The Guidelines complement the City’s initiatives in popularising a sustainable food supply, such as its community gardens (through its Community Gardens Policy, adopted in February 2010), the city farmers’ market and grant support for initiatives such as the Chippendale Fresh Food Co-op, grants for events organised by Sydney Food Fairness Alliance, the Myrtle Street edible verge plantings and the Peace Park community composting trial.

The Guidelines favour organic, low fat, non-GM, local and seasonal foods, although a means of identifying local foods – those produced within the Sydney foodbowl – is not provided. This will remain a challenge until a ‘locally grown-local produce’ label is devised and adopted.

Reusable or biodegradable crockery and eating utensils, avoiding bottled water for indoor events and, preferably, for outdoor events (the City has a mobile filtered water trailer where people can fill their bottles at events) and the elimination of non-recyclable packaging are other contents of the Guidelines, as is the selection of appropriate cafes and restaurants when entertaining visitors to the City for council business.

The Guidelines provide information on the impact of the food system as well as on the relationship between food and personal health. Fair Trade beverages are approved although there is a preference for made-in-Australia foods, and palm oil is to be avoided in food products due to its association with deforestation in South east Asia.

Adventurous document for a council

This is an adventurous document for a council.

for more http://communitygarden.org.au/cos_foodpolicy

Foodconnect demonstrates the resilience of local food - business essentially unaffected by the floods

Listen to Foodconnect founder and local food visionary Rob Pekin talk on ABC radio about how Foodconnect was able to keep getting it's fresh fruit and veges from farmers to customers (including by boat and canoe when necessary) during the floods.

Pekin explains how the strong connections between local farmer, Foodconnect and local customer give it the agility and resilience to get food to people when the bigger players can't. Just one more reason to like Foodconnect, along with the benefits of getting fresh food from local farmers who receive a fair wage in return.

Listen here.

TTKD October Meeting - 'The Future of Food'

The upcoming Transition Kenmore meeting is a movie night:

"The Future of Food" is an in-depth investigation into unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled US grocery stores for the last decade. From Canada, across the US and into Mexico, this film gives farmers, whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by the new technology, a voice. The health implications, ecological damage, government policies and push towards globalisation and monopolisation all play a part in this story, and are the reasons why many people are alarmed about the introduction of genetically altered plants into both the environment and the food supply. The Future of Food effectively explains how genetically modified organisms are being cleverly crafted as the response to the coming global food crisis, in effect marketing GM food as the second 'green revolution'. It clearly and simply explains the forces that have already changed what is eaten in the US, and how Australia's food supply could potentially become part of this politically and economically driven movement. This film also explores organic and sustainable agri-food solutions as a real and very possible solution to feeding the world's people".

Join us on Wed 20th 7;30pm

Uniting Church Hall 982 Moggill Rd Kenmore to watch the movie

Our facilitator will be Louise Orr

TTKD Growing Food & Landshare Initiative -plenty of interest so far

Transition Kenmore recently announced the Growing Food & Landshare Initiative where we will match people who have spare land with people who want to grow food.

Interest has been steadily rolling in from people who want to share their land and those who'd like to make use of it. Thanks to everyone who has gotten in touch to date. So if you have been thinking about getting involved but weren't sure if there would be somewhere for you to get your hands dirty, it already looks like that isn't going to be a problem.


Want to get involved? Here's the details again:

TransitionTown: Kenmore District (which covers the Pullenvale Ward) would like to engage with people interested in exploring the possibilities of:

1.Landshare and setting up an online Landshare register

2. Co-ordinating people who are already growing food and have a surplus, no matter how big or small.

3.Co-operatively selling food through the local Moggill Markets in the first instance then onto a wider local food supply network.

______________________________________________________________________________________
Who should register interest?

Anyone interested in growing food.
Anyone with land they are happy for others to use with a written agreement as to the terms of that use.
Gardening Mentors: people in the area who have experience in growing food and are willing to share that knowledge.

Register your interest by sending us an email: transitionkenmore"at"gmail.com

"From little things, big things grow" - Lets start growing!

TTKD Growing Food & Landshare Initiative

Growing Food and Landshare Initiative:
Interested in growing food?

Your local Transition Town: Kenmore District group is continuing the process of self-empowerment.

We are launching the Growing Food & Landshare Initiative.

Please share the following information with your email lists, neighbours, friend and family in the area.

Here in the Pullenvale Ward (from Kenmore/Chapel Hill through to Moggill) we are very fortunate to have a mixture of medium density housing through to peri-urban acreages. This diversity creates an opportunity for those without land, or land unsuitable for growing to match with landholders who do not have the time or resources to utilise their land. This synergy can result in a very productive and stronger community.

This idea of matching people keen to grow food to people with available land came to fruition in the U.K . Landshare was launched by KEO films in the UK in 2009 through the River Cottage TV program. The concept is simple: to connect people who wish to grow food with landowners willing to donate spare land for cultivation. Since then it has flourished into a national movement of more than 50,000 people, sharing more than 3,000 acres of land, with matches in every region of the UK.

TransitionTown: Kenmore District (which covers the Pullenvale Ward) would like to engage with people interested in exploring the possibilities of:

1.Landshare and setting up an online Landshare register

2. Co-ordinating people who are already growing food and have a surplus, no matter how big or small.

3.Co-operatively selling food through the local Moggill Markets in the first instance then onto a wider local food supply network.

______________________________________________________________________________________
Who should register interest?

Anyone interested in growing food.
Anyone with land they are happy for others to use with a written agreement as to the terms of that use.
Gardening Mentors: people in the area who have experience in growing food and are willing to share that knowledge.

Register your interest by sending us an email: transitionkenmore"at"gmail.com

"From little things, big things grow" - Lets start growing!

Support our Farmers and Protect our Climate. This Wednesday Lunchtime

Our Water, Our Land, Our Future. Only 3 days to go!

Support our farmers and protect our climate at this parliamentary protest.
When: this Wednesday 4th of Aug, lunchtime 12-1pm.
Where: State Parliament House, George St, Brisbane

Fossil fuel extraction is exploding in Queensland to the detriment of our climate, our farmers, rural communities and groundwater. At lunchtime this Wednesday over 100 farmers will descend on Parliament House to call for protection of our cropping land from coal and coal seam gas extraction and they need your support.

A list of excellent speakers from across the Darling Downs and from conservation and climate groups will take the message to our politicians that real climate action begins in our own backyard.

Both the Liberal-National Party and the Greens have confirmed that they will respond to our demands on the day, with the Government as yet unconfirmed.


Come along and hear from:
----------------------------------------
Ruth Armstrong from Cecil Plains on behalf of Save our Darling Downs
Rob McCreath from Felton on behalf of Friends of Felton
Scott Collins from Tara on behalf of the Western Downs Alliance
Toby Hutcheon from Queensland Conservation
Drew Hutton and Hannah Elvery from Six Degrees, Friends of the Earth, Brisbane
Jo-Anne Bragg from the Environmental Defenders Office

Politicians speaking on the day include:
The Queensland LNP (speaker to be advised)
Larissa Waters - The Greens lead senate candidate


RSVP on facebook.

For more information, or to join the farmers for morning tea or lunch, please contact Brad on 0413280006 or at bradley.smith@foe.org.au or go to sixdegrees.org.au

This is a cross post from the CCNQ

Want your garden permablitzed? Here's your chance

We have decided to attempt a more ordered approach to picking properties to blitz, using the ancient art of a roster.

So, if you want your backyard turned into a sustainable fruit and vege garden, send us an email at transitionkenmore'at'gmail.com. Just change the 'at' for an @ first.

Please let us know if you have attended any blitzes we have held to date as we will be giving preference to those that have, but even if you havn't, put your name down and soon enthusiastic gardeners will be heading your way.

Permablitzing Anstead - Pics from our World Environment Day blitz

A couple of weekends ago Transition Kenmore carried out its June Permablitz on a sunny but temperate Sunday morning.

Holes were dug

Coffee trees were planted

The soon to be Chia patch

Shoveling soil and compost

Ready for planting

On goes the Chia

Relaxing afterwards. Thanks to everyone who came.

Permaculture co-founder David Holmgren Coming to Brisbane

(This is an cross post from the Brisbane Transition Hub)

Transition Kurilpa and the Brisbane Transition Hub are hosting an evening with:

David Holmgren, co-founder of permaculture.

on Future Scenarios

JUNE 15th

South Leagues Club
Davies Park, West End (map)
DOORS OPEN 6PM FOR TASTING AND A 6.30PM START

Cost $10/5

“The simultaneous onset of climate change and the peaking of global oil supply represent unprecedented challenges for human civilisation. In this workshop I will present an integrated approach to understanding the potential interaction between Climate Change and Peak Oil using a scenario planning model. In the process I introduce permaculture as a design system specifically evolved over the last 30 years to creatively respond to futures that involve progressively less and less available energy.”

Food Inc, The Movie in Brisbane

The movie Food Inc is in limited release in Australia and was not scheduled to be shown in Brisbane.
However, many folks from the local transition movement have successfully lobbied to have it shown.
This movie received 4 1/2 stars from Margaret Pomeranz and 4 stars from David Stratton on ABC's At The Movies.
It would be wonderful to have a full house on the opening night, so put June 24th in your diary to be at the Palace Centro.

There is a growing concern in the general population about the quality of our food and the viability of our farmers. This movie provides a firm basis for those concerns.

Says Margaret Pomeranz in her review
"It's a shocking indictment of an industry which has been taken over by greedy, litigious, multi-national corporations who not only want to put small farmers and food suppliers out of business, they want to keep quiet about the dangerous practices they use in the slaughtering of animals for food and other farming practices"

You can read the rest of her review here

See you at the movies....

Food Connect - connecting you with farmers, to provide sustainable, local food

Many members of Transition Kenmore are part of an increasing number of people from around Brisbane using Food Connect to provide them with fresh local fruit and vegetables.

Food Connect makes it easy to support local farmers, cut down on "food miles", eat food that's fresh (not stored for months in a refrigerated warehouse), expand your fruit and veges horizons with their wide range of produce and much of the food is organic to boot.

Food connect does it by establishing relationships with local farmers and then, every week, brings their fresh produce to the city where it is packed into boxes and sent to each suburb for subscribers to collect. Food connect also guarantees farmers a fair price for their produce, while maintaining affordability for their subscribers.

Food connect are more than just food suppliers though, they also work hard to decrease the city/country divide by running farm tours and profiling many of the farmers they work with. They have a great website where you can learn all about them, their philosophy, sign up and manage your account.

So, if you want to spend less at the supermarket and more on fresh, local food, making the change is just a click away.

Permablitzing Chapel Hill - Pictures from the March Permablitz

On Saturday the 13th of March Transition Kenmore carried out its second Permablitz in Chapel Hill.

One of the first jobs was clearing away weeds from around the section

Garden boxes, ready for mulch and new plantings. Plus a very large pile of mushroom compost.

Planting in the newly cleared side of section

Planting strawberries

A much smaller pile of compost than when we started

The very professional looking chook-house

Planting done, growing begins......

Hunger pains: Series of ABC articles on feeding Australia and Urban Agriculture

ABC news has published a interesting series of stories looking at difference aspects of food and food supply.
Topics include urban agriculture, community gardens, the "local food" movement, pressures on farmers, costs of unseasonal produce and the challenges of feeding a growing world population in a world affected by climate change and fertilizer supply shortages.

Stories can be found here.

Transition Kenmore in the news

Transition Kenmore's permablitz of Louise Orr's garden featured in this weeks Westside News. If you didn't get a copy you can view the story online here.

If you have come across our blog after reading about Transition Kenmore in the news, and want to know more about permablitzs and how you can have your lawn turned into a productive vege garden then have a read of this. More information about the blitz of Louise's garden can be seen in our before, during and after posts.

Transition Kenmore is a local community group who cover not just Kenmore but the whole of the Pullenvale BCC ward. Our permablitz campaign is just one of the things we are up to at the moment in trying to raise awareness of, and take action against, issues of climate change and resource depletion. So if you are interested in taking some small steps towards more sustainable suburbs then come along to our Earth Hour dinner this Saturday, one of our monthly meetings, or get in touch at transitionkenmore 'at' gmail.com


Lastly thanks to the Westside News for their positive report on the work we are doing.