Let’s rethink our food and food systems. Helping us navigate this is Alice Zaslavsky, aka 'Alice in Frames' educator of food and fun!

We begin with a conversation between a regenerative farmer, farmers market and a social enterprise.

Learn about regenerative farming and the benefits of biodynamic with Mark Rathborne, Save our Soils.

Melbourne Farmers’ Market’s Miranda Sharp explores how we can connect to our growers, producers and farmers, as well as Moving Feasts, a social enterprise that creates justice, sustainability and resilience.

Hiro Okada from Kinfolk/Sibling Cafe shares his love of cooking and the potential of all the ‘ugly’ and often wasted food including 'seconds' donated through farmers like Mark.

Then we'll dive straight into Preserving and Pickling with Simon Toohey from Masterchef and Sustainable Earth Network. You’ll recognise this big smile from seasons 11 and 12 of Masterchef, we’re obsessed with how Simon elevates humble veggies into the hero of the dish, often celebrating parts of veg often considered offcuts. You can trust the man who turned the liquid from a can of chickpeas into faux chicken-skin. Join Simon talking all-things pickling, a delicious, nutrient dense way to save food from waste. There'll be some time for a Q&A with Simon too!

With a short break, we'll jump into the final stage. Why is composting such a hot topic and how do you create one - from start to finish? Find out all the steps, materials needed, tools required, what can and can't go into a backyard compost set up and how to tell when it is ready to use on the garden. All this and more from compost queen Kirsteen McLeod from Compost Depot.

Wrapping up our day will be Australian Citizen of the Year, Josie Jones from Mornington Peninsula. She will be delving into behaviour change and sharing the Great Aussie pledge, where we walk away with a pledge on one action on reducing waste.

MEET OUR SPEAKERS

MC: Alice Zaslavsky

Alice Zaslavsky is a fresh voice in Australian food, recognised for her modern, accessible approach to cooking, penchant for puns and spectacular spectacles. She’s penned best-selling kids’ book, Alice’s Food A-Z, with a reference book for veg-curious millennials out in November. Alice served time as Food Editor for Melbourne's premier lifestyle glossy The Weekly Review, hosted television programs Kitchen Whiz, Crunch Time and Short Cut to Glory, and is the resident Culinary Correspondent for the ABC. She also won an Immunity Pin on MasterChef Australia. Alice has combined her breadth of experience across education, food media and the Creative Arts to found Phenomenom.com.au, a research-led, government and industry-funded, free digital tool-kit of videos, podcast and curriculum-aligned resources that helps teachers and parents to integrate food literacy and sustainability into every school subject. Follow Alice @aliceinframes

Mark Rathborne, Save our Soils

Founder of Save our soil and champion of certified Australian Demeter biodynamic seasonal vegetables for the Melbourne farmers markets.

Most people have heard about organics and maybe a few about bio-dynamics, but what's that all about and how is it different from organics?

Mark's family has been bio-dynamic farming since December 1965 (when he was just 2 years old). Their mission is to inform people of the regenerative nature of bio-dynamic agriculture by growing tasty fruit and vegetables, selling them through farmers' markets and providing information on the subject via their website, speaking engagements and other media.

Miranda Sharp, Melbourne Farmers’ Market

Miranda is the Founder and Managing Director of Melbourne Farmers Markets, a not for profit social enterprise managing seven accredited farmers markets across Melbourne. Miranda is a retired caterer and food writer with a big vision; a future for Melbourne that balances the expansion of the supermarkets and franchises across our suburbs with a sustainable, resilient and inclusive local food system in every municipality. Miranda has most recently been recognised as the Citizen of the Year in the City of Darebin for her work and establishing the local food hub in Alphington.

Hiro Okada, Kinfolk/Sibling

Head chef of Kinfolk and previously Vue de Monde and Silo by Joost. An innovative chef who shares his love of home cooking, travelling via cooking different cuisines at home and finding the joy in zero waste cooking.

Kinfolk celebrates 10 years of creating more inclusive communities, with two cafe’s, Kinfolk and Sibling and Events by Kinfolk. Embedded within it is a training program that creates inclusive opportunities for people facing marginalisation, including physical and learning disabilities, mental health challenges, unemployment, transitioning from prison and recent migrants and refugees. Each week upwards of 70 people participate in their program gaining social connection, hospitality skills and confidence with many of them going on to gain paid employment. Sibling currently runs a home delivery and pick up service with 22 aisles of goodies from fresh produce to meal kits to cakes and food relief donations.

PRESERVING AND PICKLING

Simon Toohey, Masterchef

Before Masterchef fame, Simon studied Gastronomy in Edinburgh in 2017 before moving back to Australia and applying for MasterChef as he was inspired by the creativity in the cooks. Now 2 seasons in and Simon has launched the Sustainable Earth Network with two business partners, seeking to excite and capture imaginations wanting to change the world through sustainability and food. Simon’s primary focus is to explore the spectrum of sustainability through thought provoking content about humans and culture.

ROT: COMPOSTING, START TO FINISH

Kirsteen McLeod, Compost Depot

Kirsteen MacLeod is the co-founder of the social enterprise The Compost Depot. This startup was awarded a Pick My Project grant for $200k in 2018 to run community compost hubs which reduce food waste going into landfill and turning it into a much-needed resource for our gardens. She is a self-confessed compost nerd with a passion for soil science and gardening. She has a background in chemistry and biochemistry and a master of environment degree. Kirsteen is involved with the Brunswick Tool Library, Zero Waste Victoria, WeCycle Melbourne, Circular Economy Victoria, the Tree Project, and the Cactus and Succulent Society of Australia.

REDUCE - What a small group of committed citizens can achieve

Josephine Jones, Environmental and litter prevention advocate

Each morning, Josephine (Josie) Jones starts by collecting rubbish on the beach. A single mum, since 2006 she has volunteered over 10,000 hours and countless dollars to improve the water quality in Mornington Peninsula’s bays – personally collecting over 5.3 tonnes of rubbish from its shorelines.

Josie devotes every spare moment to stopping litter entering Mornington’s waterways, and engaging her community to inspire change. Through personal commitment, public speaking, social media, and consulting with local government, community groups, corporations, schools and businesses, she has educated stakeholders and inspired others to take care of the environment.

Josie’s outstanding work has received recognition through awards including the Dame Phyllis Frost Award in 2016, and 2017 Litter Prevention prize from Keep Victoria Beautiful. Currently the Mornington Peninsula Australia Day Citizen of the Year 2019, she is a much-admired local role model.

Zero Waste Victoria presents the Zero Waste Festival online - a festival of hope, action and regeneration!

Our Zero Waste Festival vision is to connect a community of changemakers who are inspired, passionate and empowered about a waste-free future. Our Mission? We generate inclusive conversations to inspire zero-waste actions.

Amplify our impact: You can do this by clicking "going" on the RSVP and share the Focus on Food Facebook event listing with friends and family!