Growing Edible Towns and Cities: the state of the urban agriculture sector in Victoria

Urban agriculture - the growing of food in urban and peri-urban areas - is as old as the first world’s first cities.

In early 2022 Sustain worked with Agriculture Victoria to conduct a first-ever mapping and survey of the urban agriculture sector in Victoria.

What did we learn? Urban agriculture is always about much more than growing veggies. Now more than ever, urban farmers in all their diversity can play an important role in helping governments and communities meet the challenges of climate change, wellbeing, and food security.

Presented by Drs Nick Rose and Kelly Donati, this William Angliss Institute Research Seminar series presents the findings and Sustain's roadmap for urban agriculture in Victoria to launch our 2nd national Urban Agriculture Month.

Patrick Turnbull, co-founder of Farm Raiser, will share a unique urban agriculture partnership with the Waratah Special Development School in Melbourne’s north. This inspiring story is a lesson in what is possible when passionate urban farmers and schools join forces to nurture a more inclusive (and delicious!) community.

We will enjoy a tour of the unique William Angliss Indigenous Culinary Garden featuring native medicinal and culinary plants in the heart of the city. The presentations will be followed by canapés and beverages on the deck of the Angliss Restaurant, featuring seasonal produce from Farm Raiser's very own urban farm.

Because we love food but hate waste, bookings are essential so we can cater appropriately.

This free event is made possible by the generous support of the William Angliss Institute Faculty of Higher Education. The Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation provided support the editing and design of the final report. 

Speakers

Dr Kelly Donati is Sustain’s founding Board Director/Chairperson and led the Sustain’s research on the urban agriculture sector in Victoria. Kelly also coordinates and lectures in Australia's only Bachelor of Food Studies and Master of Food Systems and Gastronomy at William Angliss Institute. Her unique interdisciplinary research and teaching practice focuses on urban foodways, community food systems, gastronomy and fermentation. In 2020, she co-authored the Pandemic Gardening Survey Report with Nick Rose. In 2019/2020, she was a research fellow at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society in Munich, Germany.

Dr Nick Rose is Sustain’s Executive Director and a leading thinker in food system governance and urban agriculture with over 15 years’ experience in sustainable food systems and local food economies. In addition to his food systems teaching and research at William Angliss Institute, he coordinates Sustain’s biannual Urban Agriculture Forum and has published extensively on urban agriculture, food system governance and food policy. In 2014, he completed a Churchill Fellowship investigating innovative models of urban agriculture in Canada, the United States and Argentina. He co-editted Reclaiming the Urban Commons: the past, present and future of food growing in Australia's towns and cities, with Dr Andrea Gaynor from the University of Western Australia (2018) and co-authored the national Pandemic Gardening survey (2020) with Dr Kelly Donati.

Patrick Turnbull

Growing up I never knew of a failing food system, food insecurity or culturally appropriate food and what it meant to a city like Melbourne. It’s only been in the last few years since studying horticulture at Burnley and starting Farm Raiser I know I have the ability to be just a small part in the change to a better food system, a system that is regenerative in nature and treats farmers and consumers with respect and dignity. I get a kick out of teaching these new found skills to others, it’s been my favourite thing to do on the farm. I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with Food For Change, Somerset Heritage Produce and The Veggie Empire over the last few years which has informed the way I farm.

About Farm Raiser

Farm Raiser is an urban farm with big dreams to positively impact our local food system. We want to grow great veg for the local community all while having a practical impact through regenerative agriculture to increase biodiversity and honour natural water and carbon cycles. We’re also motivated by the need to make good quality food more accessible and to make farming a more inclusive career path to people of all abilities.