Connecting Sydneysiders with healthier produce

City residents are responding positively to a new initiative that seeks to link local farmers with Sydneysiders.

Food Connect is a small social enterprise that aims to improve the viability of organic farms. It is also designed to make good quality fresh fruit and vegetables readily available to city folk.

Ann Taylor from Food Connect said, “We’ve had a tremendous response. We’ve got subscribers coming in every week.”

The “social franchise” is based on the Brisbane model started by Robert Pekin about six years ago.

The vision behind the venture is two-fold. Environmentally, it’s about biodiversity and keeping farmers on the land rather than importing foods.

But it’s also about nutrition: it follows in the footsteps of the slow food movement and this idea that good food changes lives.

“So many health problems are related to bad nutrition,” says Taylor.

The model is intended to improve economies of scale.

This means, that in the long run, good quality food can be made available to more people at a lower cost.

Rita Kelman, a supplier for Food Connect, has a farm in Penrith. She used to use chemicals, and sold her produce to a middleman.

But a few years ago, she made the switch to chemical free farming.

“It’s hard to go chemical free,” she said.

Now Kelman sells all her crops at markets and through Food Connect.

“I’m getting paid more now,” she said.

Food Connect is trying to alleviate some of the difficulties farmers face.

Prices are fixed with the farmers at the beginning of each year.

The costs are negotiated to be the true costs of growing: adjusting the price for seasonal variation and losses.

Meanwhile, consumers commit to a minimum of four weeks. This guarantees the customer a box of fresh seasonal vegetables at a fixed price each week.

This model reduces the risk against price increases for consumers and increases the viability of smaller scale ethical farming practices, according to Taylor.

Each week, ‘City Cousins’ are responsible for dividing the seasonal produce into boxes. Customers come to these hubs to pick up their fruit and vegetables. The produce has come from a range of local farmers, preferably with the shortest amount of time between picking and consumption.

Taylor also said they have managed to overcome the issue of choice that often exists in food cooperatives. The ‘swap box’ is a system where people can not only exchange foods from their boxes, but also organic foods from their own gardens.

Prices start from $35 for a small box and go up to $65.

There are currently City Cousins in Darlinghurst, Glebe, Newtown, Chippendale, Randwick and Kirribilli, with more setting up each month.

By Jemma Castle