Most of us have no idea of the true cost of the food we eat.
Growing, producing, and buying food consumes more than 40 per cent of our
resources. A large part of this cost is from transport – the average basket of
food in Australia
has travelled more than 23,000km before reaching your kitchen.
Fair organiser and sustainability expert Michael Mobbs
believes that by linking local producers and consumers directly, and bypassing
Coles and Woolworths, we can enhance the freshness of our food, cut fuel costs,
and dramatically reduce our environmental impact.
Not to mention saving ourselves some money. Mr Mobbs has
found that a $25 food box from local farmers would cost $52.90 at Coles, more
than double the price. “One of the fastest growing costs for the average householder
is food, because food has the cost of oil embodied in it. Oil is used to grow
it and transport it.” He hopes that the fair will prove that buying food
locally makes sense economically as well as environmentally.
As well as buying food from local farmers, Chippendale
residents are growing their own. Fruit trees grow along Myrtle Street, and nature strips have
been converted to veggie patches. On the day of the fair, residents will plant
more fruit trees and plants donated by Sydney City Council. Farmers and
producers from the Hawkesbury
Basin will be selling
their wares from the back of trucks, and stalls will be displaying all kinds of
local produce.
Mr Mobbs spent years making his Chippendale house
sustainable. It produces its own power and water, and reuses its sewage on
site. But the effects of this are “trivial”, he says, in comparison with food
sustainability. “With the fruit trees we have planted in my street, vegetables
we grow in the nature strip out the front of our houses, and by buying our
fruit and veggies straight from local farmers, Chippendale has begun to truly
sustain itself and the planet.” He hopes other suburbs will follow the example.
Food for the Future will take place at Peace Park, Myrtle
and Pine Streets, Chippendale, on October 11, from 10 am – 4 pm.
www.foodforthefuturefair.org
Photo: Alex Mackenzie – Caption: Michael Mobbs
Source:
South Sydney Herald October 2008 www.southsydneyherald.com.au