Advocate, educate, & support – Growing Your own

There are many opportunities for us to support food growing in the Illawarra. Advocacy, education and support can happen at schools, between friends, at work, within organisations and at any level of government. Start a conversation in your local community, talk to your friends, colleagues and peers, share information or write to your local councillors and Members of Parliament.
You can:

Talk to friends, colleagues and peers about:

• Tips and advice on growing at home.
• Sharing growing space or swapping crops.
• Sharing composts.
• Having a vegetable garden at your workplace.

Talk to local businesses about:

• Beginning a kitchen garden.
• Swapping crops with the community.

Talk to school and university staff about:

• Beginning a school garden.
• Educating students about growing at home.
• Research related to how growing your own food benefits the community and the environment.

Write to your local council or Members of Parliament about:

• Utilisation of vacant community land for food production, including promoting verge gardening, urban gardening and an increase the use of edible gardens in public spaces.
• Increased funding for promotion and education on how to establish food gardens.
• Ensuring that new private, community and business developments consider the planting of native and edible gardens.
• Conducting workshops or forums at preschools, childcare centres and schools on growing food, healthy eating, cooking and food wastage.
• Helping support bee populations and pollination.
• Assistance with setting up new community gardens.
• Programs to support businesses making rooftops available for vegetable gardens and beekeeping.