Australia’s future food security is a question on many people’s lips and discussions around the topic are growing in popularity.
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With industrial food production and farming practices causing environmental destruction and impacting climate change, discussions around the future of ethical farming and the types of sustainable agriculture they can implement to reduce demand on global resources are a hot topic.
A panel of guests, including author Charles Massy AO, who through his latest book, discusses the connection between soil and health and New York’s Dr Jonathan Latham, international food advocate and crop scientist.
They will be joined by Eganstown farmer and meatsmith Tammi Jonas, who raises pasture bred pigs and cattle with a minimal intervention approach. She is also the president of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance, which advocates for ethical and ecological farming.
“We don’t want to eat a lot of additives, whether its in the production or the processing. You think of all those things like herbicides and pesticides, that are designed to kill things, so they can’t be good for the human microbiome either,” she said.
Her cattle is raised on food diverted from landfill, including waste products from local breweries and cheesemakers.
“We describe ourselves as re-generative farmers because we take quite a holistic view on whatever inputs we do have on the farm and the practices we engage in,” she said.
Ms Jonas said regenerative practices not only included being chemical free, but also managing livestock on the land in a way that is good for the soil, rather than destroying it. She said she was excited to take part in the forum as it showed a diversity of farming backgrounds.
“Charlie is a really good example of those people who have come from the conventional farming background, whereas I am indicative of the new farming movement, where people farm on very small acreage and sell directly to people… We are trying to regenerate not only landscapes, but also communities while localising food systems.”
The forum will take place at Daylesford Town Hall on August 30. Tickets available through Eventbrite.