Coffs Coast Local Food Futures Part A_Final Report - Coffs Harbour ...

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Local Food Futures Project Part A: Final Report Film Nights –– Local Film Nights in Coffs Harbour and Bellingen featured screenings of ‘Food Inc’ and ‘Growing Change’ and were attended by 200 individuals. –– These events aimed to increase awareness and knowledge of the problems associated with the dominant system of agrofood. Scarecrow Competition –– The Schools Scarecrow Competition ran as part of the 2011 Sustainable Living Festival and received a total of 38 entries from 19 different Child Care Centres, Pre-schools and Primary schools throughout the Coffs Coast region. Bellofoodbox –– The Bellofoodbox Marketing project has increased box numbers to a long-term sustainable number; promoted and facilitated the relocation of Bellofoodbox to allow for growth in box numbers and increased Bellofoodbox’s list of local suppliers. “Food4LYF” –– The ‘Food4LYF’ project engaged students from Bellingen High School in facilitated workshops to increase knowledge and skills around producing food and how to prepare produce for meals. –– These events were attended by 25+ high school students weekly over the school year. –– The program continues to run with funding from Bellingen High School. Coffs Regional Community Garden –– The garden goes from strenght to strength, with 108 members. –– The garden has become a space for growing, learning and sharing, with numerous community groups involved. –– The garden features private allotments, shared beds, food forests, a nursery, and regenerated creek bed. Bellingen Community Garden –– Established by community members and Bellingen High School students and teachers, this community garden is founded on a commitment to promoting healthy active lifestyles. –– The garden was officially launched on 2nd June 2012. –– The garden is a teaching and learning space for Bellingen High School and the community. –– This garden showcases shared beds, learning spaces, a pizza oven, aquaponics system, composting and worm farms. 4
Introduction This project established a diverse local food network that worked at the community level to achieve strong awareness about the importance of local food supply in a changing globalised world. The project reinforced that the issue of food is an accessible entrée into issues of sustainability and community resilience. Lessons around project management and changing institutional approaches to growing food were key outcomes. This Final Report and the associated Evaluation Report located in Part B, form the final deliverable for the Local Food Futures Project. The project was funded by the NSW Environmental Trust as part of the Urban Sustainability Program. The project ran for 3.5 years from February 2009 to August 2012. The lead partner in the project was Coffs Harbour City Council. The project was delivered by a multi-stakeholder Steering Group, formed as part of the Coffs Coast Local Food Alliance. Background The Local Food Futures Project was developed to address the global threats of climate change and peak oil and the social threat surrounding health and wellbeing, that of obesity, poor diet and lack of access to fresh fruit and vegetables. The need to facilitate the development of a sustainable, resilient local food system is seen as being key to our ability to adapt to the ever-changing environmental, social and economic challenges that we face as we move into increasingly uncertain times. The need for a sustainable and resilient local food system is increasingly being seen as a key strategy for climate change and peak oil mitigation and adaptation i.e. the need to cut carbon emissions associated with how we grow and transport our food and to build adaptive capacity within our communities to cope with the imminent major upheavals that we face. As well as the environmental outcomes that can be delivered through relocalisation of our food system, there are also significant economic and social benefits. Increasing people’s access to fresh fruit and vegetables is a key strategy for improving community health outcomes. Local food systems keep dollars in the local economy and provide increased opportunities for jobs around areas such as growing, processing, sales, restaurants and tourism. across state and local government and community groups. The partners bring a range of interests and expertise to the project around the themes of social, environmental and economic sustainability. The project was designed with the aim of encouraging ownership of the project activities and outcomes by the community i.e. using a bottom-up, grassroots approach to change. Since one of the major challenges in developing a local food system is that of consumer awareness and understanding of the value of local food, it was seen as important that the community group partners took the main responsibility for the education and awareness raising aspects of the project. At the same time there was a clearly identified need to research, develop and implement a Local Food Strategy looking at the wider challenges of developing a local food system including all aspects of the food chain such as sustainable agriculture processes, distribution and markets for local growers, land use planning and urban design. Vision and Aims The vision for the project and of the Coffs Coast Local Food Alliance is The Coffs Coast region has a showcase sustainable local food economy that supports and sustains healthy, connected, strong and resilient communities who actively care for each other and their environment. The aim of the Local Food Futures Project is to build community resilience towards the threats of climate change and peak oil and the need to transition to a more sustainable, low energy future. Objectives –– To formulate a multi-level strategic planning response facilitating food relocalisation in the area. –– To increase community knowledge, awareness and skills in sustainable consumption and healthy lifestyles around the theme of local food –– To support community groups in showcasing sustainable living activities for the wider community around the production of local food The response to these needs and threats was the formation in June 2008 of the Coffs Coast Local Food Alliance. This group formed the Steering Group for this project and consists of partners This project has been assisted by the NSW Government through its Environmental Trust 5
Page 1 and 2: Local Food Futures Project Part A:
Page 3: The Farm Gate Trail & Seasonal Cale
Page 7 and 8: Milestones The Milestone Timetable
Page 9 and 10: Key Focus Areas - Summary of Outcom
Page 11 and 12: Summary of the Focus Area (continue
Page 13 and 14: Key Focus Area: Showcasing Stakehol
Page 15 and 16: Stakeholder Engagement and Particip
Page 17 and 18: Project Timetable Milestone/Activit
Page 19 and 20: Schedule C Environmental Trust Outc
Page 21 and 22: Community Gardens The main challeng
Page 23 and 24: This project has been assisted by t
Page 29 and 30: Local Food Futures Project NSW ENVI
Page 31 and 32: Partner/ Stakeholder Communication
Page 33 and 34: Schools Due to site access issue ou
Page 35 and 36: Monitoring & Evaluation Attached se
Page 37 and 38: support of Council approval of the
Page 39 and 40: Appendix C Bellingen Community Gard
Page 41 and 42: Bellingen High School Garden Open D
Page 43 and 44: Monitoring and Evaluation Please se
Page 45: groups. One possibility being discu

Coffs Coast Local Food Futures Part A_Final Report - Coffs Harbour ...

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