Growing Together Harvest Festival
The ‘Growing Together Harvest Festival’ sought to address gaps in the local distribution system and improve the delivery of local produce for community members to better access fresh fruit and vegetables. It also sought to develop a procurement network to enhance procurement opportunities throughout the wholesale sector locally. It directly linked to the second priority theme - Food logistics, transport and agility.
The program involved a curated series of Food Hub popup events being held in each major township of the Huon Valley, to distribute local produce, celebrate local food, and provide insightful educational experiences around the importance of sourcing and supporting local produce.
The popup events were held during harvest from March-May 2023.
It was intended that a local procurement network aimed at increasing the availability of Huon Valley produce through local wholesale channels with local supermarkets and businesses would also be delivered. However due to a lack of available surplus, inconsistent supply, and the required resourcing to support and make the initiative happen, this was not able to be progressed in the timeframe available.
Two dedicated facilitators were engaged to support the Project Officer in the delivery of the curated events. One facilitator had carriage of the events held in Geeveston, Franklin, Huonville and Cygnet, whilst the other specifically focused on Dover. This distinction was important to ensure a longer curated program involving multiple events on separate days could be coordinated. This allowed more focus and attention to be given, engaging directly with the community to address isolation and gaps in productivity and accessibility.
The structure of each event day was consistent in nature of activity and demonstrations conducted. They each involved opportunities for learning new skills, preserving and maximising the harvest through preservation, pickling and fermenting, practical workshops (ie. composting, traditional cultural burning, garden bed building, seed share/swap), cooking demonstrations, popup markets and traditional celebrations such as shared dinners and barn dances.
There was an overwhelming amount of support and interest from the broader community around each of the popup events. Core reasons sighted for their interest related to the opportunity to connect and engage with like-minded people, the enjoyment of connecting with local growers and their products, the chance to learn new skills and to exchange knowledge with others, and the chance to be part of a movement that is encouraging positive change to behaviours.
The majority of events were fully booked out, and in some cases, more people turned up on the day in the hope of being able to get a seat. Over the duration of the festival, over 143 people supported one or more of the events.
Everyone that attended these events, left with having learned new skills and knowledge - whether it be how to preserve the harvest, minimising food waste, learning new recipes, gaining knowledge of who is producing food locally and how to access, and more! Each event showcased where the produce had come from, which raised awareness of the variety of produce and growers within the region - and expressed an interest in keeping up the support of these producers.
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The Growing Together Harvest Festival project is one of several trial projects that were delivered during the development of the business plan for the Huon Valley Food Hub, to help inform this important foundational work. Further information about these projects and the broader Huon Valley Food Hub Business and Strategic Plan is available here.