Over the past few years research has revealed that the way our industrial global economy produces, manufactures, packages, transports, markets, sells and disposes of food has a huge and negative impact on our natural environment, small independent business including family-owned farms, and communities. Writers like Michael Pollan and Chad Heeter very clearly reveal the hidden costs and destruction in our current food system.

We can immediately and effectively reduce our carbon and environmental footprints and improve our health and nutrition by changing the type of food we eat and where we buy it from.

Fresh, local and regional food is at the heart of this change. Buying produce grown by local and regional farmers who farm as sustainably as possible (eg) organically, biodynamically, waterwise etc is the best thing we can all do for our own health and our planet’s health.

Buying locally or regionally manufactured food too, such as baked goods, dairy products, preserves and jams, pickles, olives, oils and so on, is a fantastic way to bring sustainability into our lives, homes, communities and local businesses and economies. And it’s fun and delicious too!

There are some great organisations, programs, businesses, initiatives and resources that are helping us to do this in the Scenic Rim: Visit Scenic Rim

This terrific website has an extensive local and regional food section that includes:

• Fresh and local food
• Fresh and local harvest calendar
• Local recipes

• Cooking School secrets
• Markets
• Regional produce directory
• Restaurant directory
• Cafe directory
• Caterers directory
• Winemakers and wineries
• Winery directory
• Breweries
• Distillery

The Green Shed

Run by the Tamborine Mountain Local Producers Association, the Green Shed operates every Sunday morning between 7am and 12 midday at the Tamborine Mountain Showgrounds (in the green shed of course!). It offers chemical-free fresh produce grown by local and regional growers

Food Connect

Food Connect is Australia’s biggest Community Supported Agriculture scheme and is based in Brisbane. It works in collaboration with family farms to bring fresh, nutritious and affordable food direct to communities and households in SEQ

Farmers markets

B-Fresh

B-Fresh coordinates the Beechmont community’s Food Connect delivery program and hosts occasional backyard growing workshops. Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.

100 Mile Diet

In 2005, Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon began a one-year experiment in local eating. Their 100-Mile Diet struck a deeper chord than anyone could have predicted, inspiring thousands of individuals, and even whole communities, to change the way they eat. Locally raised and produced food has been called “the new organic" — better tasting, better for the environment, better for local economies, and better for your health. From reviving the family farm to reconnecting with the seasons, the local foods movement is turning good eating into a revolution.

In the Scenic Rim Region, the 100 Mile Diet is being trialled by local business operator Robyn Fortescue who runs the B&B Wallaby Ridge Retreat at Wonglepong.

There are many great articles about how important food is to creating a more sustainable world. Some we recommend from our Information Hub are:

“The Food Issue – Farmer in Chief” by Michael Pollan, New York Times Magazine, October 12 2008

“Nine meals from anarchy - how Britain is facing a very real food crisis” by Rosie Boycott, UK Daily Mail, June 7 2008

“Solving for Pattern” by Wendell Berry, an essay published in the mid 1980s

“My Saudi Arabian Breakfast” by Chad Heeter, reveals where our food comes from in the global marketplace and the real costs of global food