Episode 4: ‘Resilience beyond crisis’: the power of connecting producers and consumers Artwork

Fair Food Futures

The Fair Food Futures podcast explores the stories and visions for change put forth by community food networks in Australia as they seek to progress transformations towards sustainable food futures, and identifies the strategies, challenges and opportunities for making civil society’s visions for fair food futures come to life. Our main questions were: what does it mean to do ‘food justice’ in Australia? What does your fair food future look like, and how do we get there? With these questions in mind, we listened to stories from leaders of grassroots food organisations, community workers, farmers, First Nations communities, activists, consumers, academics and global policy makers. By bringing these voices together, the Fair Food Futures podcast aims to create a space for dialogue and alliance building between members of civic food networks in Australia, and contribute to ongoing conversations about the opportunities and challenges for policy change. Fair Food Futures is based on research conducted at The University of Queensland and funded by the Australian Research Council, in collaboration with civic food networks in Australia. The Fair Food Futures Podcast is produced and facilitated by Dr Kiah Smith, Dr Daniel Cruz, and Joanna Horton, from the School of Social Science at The University of Queensland. It was made possible thanks to the support of the Future Earth's Pathways Communication Grants Program. Recorded at VMP Studio by Liam Polmear & Ian Chapman. Illustrations by Brenna Quinlan. Audio sting by Charlie Mgee. Visit our website for more information: https://fairfoodfutures.com/

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Fair Food Futures

Episode 4: ‘Resilience beyond crisis’: the power of connecting producers and consumers

November 07, 2022 • Jacki Hinchey, Matt Bakker, Micah Oberon, Phil Garozzo, Alice Star, Joanna Horton, Dr Kiah Smith & Dr Daniel Cruz • Season 1 • Episode 4

In this episode inspired by the “Fair Food in the City” scenario, small-scale producers Jacki Hinchey from Blue Dog Farm, Matt Bakker and Micah Oberon from Neighbourhood Farm, and Phil Garozzo and Alice Star from Loop Growers share their first-hand experiences with recent crises, such as the 2022 floods and the COVID19 pandemic. Our guest speakers explain how their ongoing resilience was possible thanks to the social connections they built with their communities over the years, which played a key role in their recovery and adaptation processes.

Our guests share their insights on what a truly resilient food system looks like, touching on elements of hyper-localization, direct producer-consumer networks, the role of education about food system dynamics, the need for policies supporting small-scale producers, as well as the essential contribution that regenerative agriculture, permaculture, and agroecology make to agrobiodiversity and soil quality.

The conversation also brings our guests to demonstrate, from first-hand experience, how resilience is increased through alliances with a broad range of stakeholders across the food system, such as consumers, chefs, activists, academics, agri-food movements, and indigenous peoples, among others. Examples of alliances and networks such as REKO, Young Farmers Connect, and the Moreton Bay Food & Agribusiness Network are described as examples of the possibilities that alliance-building brings for more resilient, sustainable, and fair food systems in Australia.

Lastly, our guests share down-to-earth advice on how listeners can improve and grow resilience for the future.

More information about the Fair Food Futures Project and the scenarios for food justice HERE.

Important links:

Loop Growers

Neighbourhood Farm

Blue Dog Farm

Moreton Bay Food & Agribusiness Network

REKO Australia

Young Farmers Connect

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The Fair Food Futures project is led by Dr Kiah Smith from The University of Queensland and funded by The Australian Research Council (DE190101126). This podcast is produced by Dr Kiah Smith, Dr Daniel Cruz, Joanna Horton and VMP Studio, and funded by the Future Earth's Pathways Initiative.

Visit our website at: https://fairfoodfutures.com/