Farming, Food + Feminism:

Dinner and Dialogue with Women in Food

Over a three-course vegetarian dinner at Jamsheed Urban Winery, join us for a moderated discussion with women who've carved out successful places for themselves and others in the food system

Come and join the conversation, meet others in the field and celebrate Australia's growing urban agriculture movement together.

THE THEME

Women are, in more ways than most people have seriously considered, at the centre of the food system. What would happen if they were given their due?

Women’s relationship to food is storied and complex. They are growers, eaters, conveyors of cuisine, and distributors of food within families, communities, and nations. Yet, for the most part, their roles in food are unrecognised at best and ignored at worst.

Women grow the lion’s share of the world’s food, yet they own only one percent of its land (FAO). In AgTech, female-founded start-ups are consistently granted less funding than their male counterparts. Now, as the pandemic exacerbates all existing inequalities, women are also bearing the brunt of the economic and social impacts of COVID-19.

Giving women a fair shot, however, is a win for everyone. A feminist food system is a gateway for food and nutrition security and a path to improved public health. If women farmers had the same access to resources as male farmers do, up to 150 million people would be brought out of hunger.

How do we realise true representation and equality in the food system? This dialogue is a further step forwards in that conversation, starting with the women who farm, feed and otherwise care for communities and land.

Over dinner and drinks at Jamsheed Urban Winery, we’re bringing together women who have asserted their food voices and have carved out successful spaces for themselves and others.

TICKET SALES END TUESDAY, APRIL 20, AT 5PM AEST.

MODERATOR

Georgia Karavis, Sustain: The Australian Food Network

Georgia wants to change the way we eat and live. She sticks her finger in any old pie that works towards a just, sustainable, dignifying and joyful world through food. In addition to her work with Sustain, she facilitates community cooking with Cultivating Community, OpenTable and North Carlton Railway Neighbourhood House.

SPEAKERS

Mama Queyea, The United African Farm

Queyea Tuazama is a Liberian mother who migrated to Australia as a refugee. She is a passionate farmer and a founding member of The United African Farm as well as being an extraordinary cook and active community member. She is a strong advocate for growing cultural foods and sharing this knowledge across generations and sees the role of food production and sharing as critical to the health and connectedness of any neighbourhood.

Kate Sutton, Farmer Incubator

Coming from a background in commercial media, Kate has devoted much of her spare time to supporting the transition to a localised food system. Kate was a founding member of the Youth Food Movement in Sydney in 2012. Her more recent experience includes communications, program and project management in the start-up phase of the Melbourne Food Hub and communications and events management for Sustain: The Australian Food Network. Kate now works with the Farmer Incubator team to develop marketing sales channels for new regenerative farmers, has been a committee member of Growing Farmers since mid 2020 and has just begun a Marketing Coordinator role with CERES Fair Wood.

Clare Harvey, Melbourne Food Hub Farm

Clare is horticulturist and permaculturist drawing her knowledge from studies of urban horticulture at Burnley (Melbourne University), permaculture design courses and a range of experience within the field. She has worked on farms and permaculture projects across the world, currently setting down roots in Melbourne by running a small yet mighty market garden in Alphington on what was once a landfill site. Clare is interested in the intersection of social justice and farming and its power to enact positive change.

Sophia Bagatsing, Landcare

Sophia is a city-girl-turned-farmer-chick-activist. Before migrating from the Philippines in 2014, Sophia discovered her family’s agricultural roots and decided to follow in the footsteps of her great-grandparents.

Currently, she’s doing work for Landcare in Mornington Peninsula, providing much needed support for our local farmers. Her various community involvements take her all over Victoria, gathering wisdom and inspiration from the different farmers (and farm-supporters) that she meets.

You can find her growing her own garlic crop at the Heide Museum Kitchen Garden or volunteering at the Werribee Heritage Orchard. If she isn’t getting her hands dirty, you can catch her running workshops on sustainable diets, or hosting climate conversations for Climate4Change, Farmers for Climate Action, and Transition Streets.

She believes that regenerative agriculture is the solution to some of the biggest environmental problems brought about by the climate crisis, and to better equip herself for this challenge, she is taking a Masters in Agricultural Science (Melbourne University) and Diploma in Sustainability (UTAS).

Isabelle Kember, Growing Farmers

Isabelle Kember has recently established a small urban market garden in Fawkner through the community led project Growing Farmers. They have a strong passion for regenerative farming practices which put the health of the soil first, having grown up helping out on a family orchard in Aotearoa and witnessing the tangible link between healthy soil, healthy food, and healthy people. Isabelle has set up two small scale flower farms in Aotearoa and Naarm, and is now thrilled to be learning how to grow nutrient-dense, chemical-free food for the local community.

Elika Rowell, Jamsheed Wines

Elika is operations manager at Jamsheed Wines, Melbourne, with a total of 18 years’ experience in the Hospitality industry. She is also the co-founder of Square One Coffee Roasters which was established in 2014.

With leadership roles at Jamsheed Wines, Bar None, Brother Baba Budan and Top Paddock in Melbourne, as well as many other Melbourne establishments, Elika has collected and developed a wealth of experience and knowledge. Alongside her partner and Jamsheed owner Gary Mills, Elika is now the driving force behind the urban winery and has a vast role as cellar hand, wholesale, events management, marketing, bookkeeping, business development, just to name a few.

From her time in coffee, Elika is a certified Q Grader and a National AASCA Barista and Brewers Cup judge and has contributed to the local industry by co-founding Platform Australia – a non-biased coffee event focused on quality and sustainability. Elika has now returned to wine her roots at Jamsheed Wines, with wine and coffee having many similarities, she is now using the skills and knowledge from the coffee industry in wine.

In June 2016, due to her profound coffee expertise and sharp leadership skills, coupled with an ambition to educate both the industry and the consumer alike, Elika was awarded with the Melbourne Food and Wine Hostplus Hospitality Scholarship. This allowed her to travel to three international destinations of her choice to further her career in hospitality.

THE VENUE, FOOD + WINE

Jamsheed Urban Winery, based in the south of Preston, is Melbourne's first ever fully functioning winery, complete with a barrel hall and a cellar door.

Jamsheed will be serving a three-course vegetarian dinner paired with choice wines: 2019 illaj Sauvignon Blanc, 2017 illaj Cabernet Merlot and 2017 illaj Syrah.