The Community Harvest Project was started by myself, Kerry Dawborn, and my colleague, Michelle Jones, in 2008. A mutual friend got us talking and we realised we shared many interests and concerns about locally produced food, the great opportunities it holds, the challenges many people have in accessing it, and which many producers or would-be producers, have in producing and distributing it.
Me, Kerry Dawborn in my garden & Michelle Jones - testing jam, I think...
So in March of 2008, at the Healesville Organic Market 3rd Anniversary Celebrations, Michelle and I got talking. We found we had a fair bit in common. Our involvement in our communities told both of us that people were hungry for knowledge and skills to empower themselves to grow and process their own food or source it locally, and to connect with others in their community to build community resilience. We both believed that many good things could be achieved through the medium of food. Many people understand the impact that the manner in which food is produced and distributed, can have on our local economies and communities, and on the environment. In these difficult times of economic pressure and social disconnection, many individuals and communities want to produce more of their food themselves, and recognise the benefits of working together to do so.
We found out a short time later that the Shire of Yarra Ranges - a local government near where we live, to the east of Melbourne, Australia, was offering small grants for community development projects. So, with the support of Yarra Valley Permaculture Group and Permaculture Melbourne, and backed by the Hills Organic Box Scheme, we successfully applied for a grant.
The project began in July 2008, with a series of information sessions, and these were followed fairly rapidly with the setting up of a number of local community harvest groups, whose purpose was to connect people and organisations in a given area with each other to share skills, knowledge and resources in producing and/or promoting local food. The groups have run working bees at each other's homes, shared site visits, run workshops in things like produce preserving and no-dig gardening, set up shared gardens and produce swaps, and more.
Community Harvest Local Group members working together to get the job done in 2008.
With time it became clear that while supporting people in working together in these ways is critical for our work, a number of pressures and challenges emerged which led us to feel that the Project should not try to support and promote local groups under the Community Harvest banner. Instead, for this aspect of the Project, we decided to be an information and support resource for individuals and groups in building their local food resources in their own ways. A great positive that came out of this, is our realisation that the strength of individuals and communities to make a difference in their own lives, lies not in their dependence on organisations, be these governments, commercial enterprises or even organisations like Community Harvest: the strength of individuals and communities lies in them recognising, building and drawing on their own resources, to achieve their aims. Sometimes we don't see or appreciate the value of the skills, knowledge, resources and opportunities that exist all around us. It's easy to look outside of ourselves and our immediate environment for the answers. Sometimes too, relying on organisations and structures outside of ourselves can limit the unique, creative responses that only we can develop, to meet the challenges we face.
Community Harvest continues to focus on our two key areas - Access to Local Food, and Lasting Change. On the Access side, we are building this website and the local foods directory it contains (the Yarra Ranges listings may also be published as a hard copy directory), and developing resources to support local food group initiatives. On the Lasting Change front, we are researching the hurdles which stand in the way of vibrant local-food economies, and exploring ways to support and participate in positive change.
It's been a wonderful journey so far. We haven't ended up where we expected to be at this point - but we believe that where we are is better. We have learned so much - most importantly, as Permaculturist David Holmgren has advised, to observe, take action, observe again, and creatively respond to change as against setting a rigid plan that does not respond to the evolving context in which it is set (see his book entitled Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability). We look forward to working with you to creatively respond to the challenges of our time, and to all of us reaping a true community harvest!
