From expanding community gardens to advocating for dedicated local food coordinator positions, Councillor Jess Whittaker is working to make fresh, affordable, local food more accessible across our region.
We sat down with Jess to explore how she plans to strengthen our local food system and create more opportunities for community-led food initiatives.
1) We understand a motion you put forward sparked some debate in council chambers last November. Can you walk us through what led you to bring this forward?
Communities thrive when fresh, affordable local food is abundant and accessible. The city needs to plant more edible gardens and encourage local trading and production of seasonal produce. Council has a role to play in this. I put the motion forward early because it’s something I’m really passionate about and want to keep pushing during my term.
2) Looking at the 2013-2019 Regional Food Strategy, what were some of the key areas you noticed weren’t being fully realised?
The section on building capacity of our community jumps out as something that I see minimal evidence of being delivered. But when I look through that document I can see that many, if not most of the strategies and actions have not been addressed. The community has been left to take up the leadership role and go for it largely on their own, while the regional food strategy sat on the shelf.
3) Now that the motion has passed, what are the next steps the council will take?
The next step for me is to continue to advocate for funding for a dedicated local food coordinator position on council. Access to fresh, local produce and all the community benefits of sharing food and community connections food brings is something a passionate local food coordinator could bring to the city. As the song goes, from little things big things grow. With the right person in a role like this, along with resources for events and engagement we could see some real progress in the Illawarra in Developing community participation in our local food systems.
4) How do you envision we can replicate more of the community garden style of food growing across the Illawarra?
I would love to see council employ a community garden coordinator to liaise with groups who already have an established community garden, or those who want to start a new project. This role could also run engagement events around local food and other activities. We need to look to remove barriers for people in participating in the local food system, such as volunteer burnout, and finding sites on community land to grow food that are pre approved, so the time from approach to council about a project to breaking soil is reduced.
5) Food relief organisations have highlighted struggles accessing fresh produce. How do you see council’s renewed focus on local food systems helping address this gap in the Illawarra?
I would say that generating abundance is key, and then creating the local channels to share the abundance. It may not necessarily be that the food charity distributes from local growers, but making fresh produce available in communities through community gardens, crops swaps and other share economy initiatives will improve access to fresh food for people struggling with the cost of living.
Stay tuned for further updates on the motion. If you’re keen on being part of creating a more sustainable and local food system, don’t miss our guide to community gardens.
