Hills & Fleurieu Local Food Future Project

Building a thriving local food system

Born from many conversations and many workshops, a collective of local government, purpose driven organisations and community have come together to catalyse action and collectively work together for a thriving localised food system.

Why: Climate change, rising living costs and global crises have and will continue to put growing pressure on our food system. The average food basket travels a long way with many impacts and vulnerabilities along the way. Remember those empty supermarket shelves during Covid.
With the increasing impact of climate change and other global impacts we need diversification in how we access our food and shorter supply chains – a more local food system is a critical solution.
The key first step in the project has been establishing a regional food activator role : the glue in the local food system that weaves, connects and enables transformation. The Food Embassy’s Liz Sanders is thrilled to be taking on this role for the next 12 months.

The role of the activator in this project will be to :

  • Better understand the key gaps and opportunities for catalytic projects that support a thriving regenerative local food system.
  • Engage community into the project
  • Build the case for future investment in this role and relevant catalytic regional food system projects.

Supporting this role and funding this project is the Hills and Fleurieu Local Food Future Collective made up of the following organisations and people: Alexandrina Council, City of Onkaparinga, Mt Barker District Council, Yankalilla Council, Fleurieu Food, Regional Development Australia- Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu and KI, Landscape Board- Hills and Fleurieu, Eco Creative and Sustainable Table.

Underlying this work are the following key principles:

Decolonisation

The land we work and farm on is unceded First Nations land – we work hard to challenge the colonial structures and at the same time champion First Nations food sovereignty and self determination

Collaboration

Working together is essential to ensure we truly regenerate and transform the local food system

Relational

Relationships are foundational to this work and help us work together and understand the system to do this complex work

Trust

Building authentic trust is fundamental to working in a complex system

Place Based

This work is firmly grounded in understanding and respecting local context and knowledge

Integrity

Transparency and accountability are critical in moving forward in a complex system

All of us eat , we are all connected through food and it is our right as citizens to have healthy nourishing food that not only nourishes ourselves but the planet and all those that provide that food.
If you’re keen to chat some more please reach out to Liz.

Contact

You can find out about what we’ve achieved through to January 2024 by downloading the Outcomes Flyer here.

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