On Thursday April 4th at NRCF’s annual info night, Chair John Callanan launched the new Sustainable Food & Agriculture Fund.
Brain child of the founder of Venture Organic Adam Gibson, and supported by the Grier Family of Harvest Café Newrybar, the fund was seeded with $12,500 in donations on the night. We asked Adam Gibson why he decided to seed this Fund:
For the last 15 years I have been working with the country’s leading integrative medical practitioner, and one thing that became very obvious is that as a society, we have a chronic disease CRISIS, and it’s well recognised that our diet – chemically laden, industrially produced, highly processed, nutrient deficient food – is the number one contributor to this.
And research tells us it’s not simply laziness or apathy that is causing people to make these decisions. Mostly its AFFORDABILITY ie. If you have $5 to feed your family of four, a box of two minute noodles goes further than a head of broccoli.
AND it’s a question of AVAILABILITY ie. It’s simply not in the shop to buy.
Our mission is to enable nutrient dense, fresh, chemical free food on every dinner table. Affordable, available to everyone, making ORGANIC THE NEW NORMAL.
We have also come to recognise that our current industrial farming methods are
– turning soil into lifeless dirt – relying therefore on unsustainable chemical inputs,
– disrupting water cycles and turning fertile country into drought and desert
– locking farmers into an inescapable cycle of chemical usage and debt – high rates of despair and depression,
– lack of young farmers crisis as average farmer age approaches 60
– producing food that can range from lacking in nutrients to being downright toxic
Regenerative agricultural practices offer solutions to all these problems, turning farms into
– our largest opportunity to sequester carbon and halt climate change
– producers of quality, healthy food
– viable and attractive career options for young people
– systems that not only sustain but REGENERATE our soils and our landscape
Our vision is to make REGENERATIVE Farming the NEW NORMAL
Our vision is to make the NORTHERN RIVERS an international destination as a Regenerative Farming Hub, offering education and farm business training to support the worldwide shift towards Regen
HOW are we going to achieve this?
By supporting individuals and not for profits in our region who are actively working to further these visions in their own ways.
By partnering with business entities and institutions who have the same vision and see the economic, social & environmental benefits of supporting grass roots community organisations
This new Sub Fund at NRCF will assist and fund projects such as:
Landcare Mother’s day tree planting
Landcare Initiatives such as Farming Into The Future workshops; Livestock Management for Regenerative Agriculture; On-farm workshops to learn of techniques for Regen Agriculture such as cell grazing, pasture management & composting
School education programs for regenerative agriculture
Community and school gardens
Scholarship program for indigenous and disadvantaged people to study regen agriculture and organic farming at partner universities.