Farm Day Out: A music fest for lovers of good, fair food!

January 31, 2019 by Food Sovereignty

The Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) is hosting the inaugural Farm Day
Out at Jonai Farms in Eganstown, Victoria on 17 March 2019.

It’s a day on the farm meets music festival, where one can meet local farmers, catch
a dance-inducing line-up of live music, and sink your teeth into some delicious local,
ethical & ecologically-sound food, while kicking back in the rolling hills outside
Daylesford.

Best of all, the event is a fundraiser in support of farmers and their allies working
towards sustainable and regenerative food systems. At a time when Australia is
suffering drought and our rivers are dying from the worst excesses of industrial
export-oriented agriculture up north, many are looking to new/old, better ways of
farming.

The morning kicks off with a tour of Jonai Farms, where local farming legends
Tammi and Stuart Jonas will guide visitors through their diverse, small-scale,
agroecological farming system, and the on-farm boning room and commercial
kitchen where they produce fresh cuts, smallgoods, charcuterie, and salumi.
Back at the beautiful Jonai event space – the grandly named ‘Belvedere’ – punters
will be treated to a lilting line-up of folk, country and indie acts throughout the
afternoon. Local stars Freya Josephine Hollick (fresh off the back of recording a new
album with Buick 6 at Rancho De La Luna studios in California), Sean McMahon,
and Sal Kimber and the Rollin’ Wheel, will be hitting the stage with full bands on
show for big, deep tunes.

You’ll be able to fill up on locally-produced eats and treats from some of Victoria’s
favourite food trucks, including hyperlocal Danny’s Farm and ever-popular Lil’ Nom
Noms, and enjoy the likes of Captain’s Creek organic cider and wine and Holgate
beer from just down the road. In keeping with AFSA’s mission of fair food, Farm Day
Out organisers are ensuring that all food is sourced ethically from farmers we know
and love. (You can also bring your own picnic lunch - no BYO alcohol).

Farm Day Out will also see the launch of AFSA’s revolutionary new book Farming
Democracy: Radically transforming the food system from the ground up. The book
shares the stories of eight small-scale regenerative farmers from across Australia,
from veg growers and pastured livestock farmers to organic grain farmers. It delves
into just how they grow, process, and sell their food, and what it takes for them to
farm the way they do - giving practical, on-the-ground insight into what is happening
around the country to build a fairer food system, and opening the books to share
what it costs (and makes) them to grow food fairly.

All funds raised by the event will support AFSA’s work in advocating for a fair,
nourishing, and ecologically-sound food system – supporting more farms, not bigger
farms, and working to drought proof Australia with agroecology!

About the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance
The Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) is working towards a fair, diverse
and democratic food system for the benefit of all Australians. We are a civic
organisation of Australian farmers, communities, organisations, and individuals
committed to upholding the rights of peoples to food sovereignty.

Food sovereignty asserts the right of peoples to nourishing and culturally appropriate
food produced and distributed in ecologically sound and ethical ways and their right
to collectively determine their own food and agriculture systems.

The degree to which peoples experience food sovereignty has a direct bearing on
their food security. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical,
social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their
dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. The greater
peoples’ food sovereignty, the greater the level of control they have over their food
choices and the sources of their food.

When: Sunday 17 March, 10:00am – 6:30pm
Where: Jonai Farms, Eganstown VIC 3461
More info and tickets: https://www.facebook.com/events/381367049352162/

FOR INTERVIEW:
• Tammi Jonas, President M: 0422 429 362
INFORMATION:
• afsa.org.au
• admin@afsa.org.au

Slow Meat 2018

August 13, 2018 by Food Sovereignty

AFSA & Slow Food Central Highlands Proudly Presents Slow Meat 2018

Slow Meat is a symposium that aims to educate the public and industry about the ecological and social costs associated with intensively-produced meat and highlight the regenerative and ethical alternatives.

If you'd like to learn more about Slow Meat and all the outstanding panels, feasts, and roundtables that it will entail, please read below.

Already familiar with the event? Jump right into these quick facts:

When: September 23-25
Where: Daylesford, VIC
Tickets: Available for purchase on Eventbrite
Discounts: 10% discounts available for AFSA members, and an additional 10% available to farmer members (20% discount total!)
Email admin@afsa.org.au for your discount code

Second Annual Slow Meat Calls to Eat "Less, Better Meat"

How do we get people to ‘eat better meat, less? For the second year running, Slow Meat Australia will bring together farmers, butchers, chefs, and allies to try to answer this question.

The aim of the Slow Meat Australia Symposium is to enable the critical discussions needed to enable a shift away from the unsustainable and unethical practices of intensive industrial livestock production. Slow Meat Australia aims to educate the public and industry about the ecological and social costs associated with intensively-produced meat and highlight the regenerative and ethical alternatives. Over time, advocates for Slow Meat want to see an industry move towards the highest welfare, pastured farming systems that nourish land, animals and people.

Australia’s annual Slow Meat Symposium is a collaboration between the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance and Slow Food Central Highlands held over three days that includes plenaries and debates around how to progress the slow meat and food sovereignty agendas in Australia and globally. Held in Daylesford on 23 - 25 September 2018, the event will include farm visits, butchery demonstrations and feasts. The event is open to farmers, abattoir operators, butchers, chefs, restaurateurs, academics, and anyone else who is interested in how animals are raised for meat.

Slow Meat Australia is fortunate this year to be bringing American butcher, educator, and James Beard Award-winning author Adam Danforth to Daylesford, who will present well-considered views and deeply informative masterclasses on whole-animal butchery, and the science of flavour to demonstrate slow meat in action.

Danforth will be joined by two passionate proponents for Slow Meat: Michael Hicks of Extraordinary Pork and ethical meat purveyor Laura Dalrymple of Feather & Bone, who will offer provocations on producing, processing, and selling slow meat.

Award-winning food writer and author of My Year Without Meat Richard Cornish will MC Monday's symposium, and local regenerative livestock farmer and butcher Tammi Jonas of Jonai Farms & Meatsmiths, president of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance, will present an update on the state of the Slow Meat movement in Australia and globally.

Excitingly, this year’s event also boasts six local female chefs who will pair up with local producers to offer food samples and stories of the effects of breed, feed, age,ageing, and cooking on the deliciousness of slow meat.

On Sunday before the Symposium, the public is invited to join a day of informative farm visits, including pastured pig farmers Brooklands Free Range Farms and duck farmers Vue du Volcan. A feast will be had at family-owned winery Captains Creek in Blampied of local delicacies, organic wines, and ciders from apples grown on the farm.

SBS’ Gourmet Farmer Matthew Evans of Fat Pig Farm will revisit the vision for slow meat in Australia, and our Slow Meat Manifesto developed collectively over the Symposium. A celebratory dinner will be the finale to Slow Meat Australia, and per the Slow Meat mantra, will present a menu that encourages participants to 'eat better meat, less'.

Day three of the Symposium features a not-to-be-missed half-day masterclass with the incredibly knowledgeable and skilled Adam Danforth, award-winning author of Butchering Beef, and Butchering Poultry, Rabbit, Lamb, Goat, Pork.

“What conditions during the life of the animal impact the quality of the meat?” asks Danforth, “These questions (and many more) are answered as a whole carcass is systematically broken down, with individual muscles isolated and described for function, flavour, tenderness, and potential for incredible food memories.”

In this unique format of experiential education, stigmas in meat will be challenged through the use of older animals such as cull dairy cows. The workshop will conclude with several rounds of blind tasting contrasting muscles, reinforcing the core workshop concepts of prioritising flavour over tenderness and the direct correlation between an animal’s welfare and the nutrition and emotional potential in its meat.

Young chef and Jonai sous butcher Morris Willcock of Paddock to Pie will provide lunch on day three.

For the final afternoon, there will be a small-scale abattoir roundtable to bring existing abattoir owners together with the growing movement of farmers, butchers, and allies working to build new abattoirs. Together we will develop a strategy to halt the loss of regional abattoirs across Australia and see new ones thrive to support the growing movement of slow meat farmers and those who choose their ethically- and ecologically-raised produce.

This event is for all enablers, enactors, and allies of the Slow Meat philosophy to discuss and debate all things around the ethical and ecologically-sound production and consumption of meat.

In AFSA president & farmer & butcher Tammi Jonas’ words, ‘the food sovereignty movement broadly and slow meat more particularly is unstoppable because it is an ecological movement – everybody benefits from improving care for land, animals, and people. As we say at Jonai, you are what you eat, so eat ethically!’

Want to Learn More? Connect with us!

Slow Meat Australia Facebook page

Slow Meat Symposium 2018 Facebook event page

Purchase Tickets on Eventbrite

About AFSA

The Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance is a farmer-led collaboration of organisations and individuals working towards a food system in which everyone has the opportunity to access, create, and manage their food supply from paddock to plate. Food sovereignty asserts the right of peoples to nourishing and culturally appropriate food produced and distributed in ecologically sound and ethical ways, and their right to collectively determine their own food and agriculture systems. The Alliance’s purpose is to cooperate to create an equitable, sustainable and resilient food system for all Australians.

About Slow Food Central Highlands

Slow Food Central Highlands is part of the global Slow Food network – a grassroots organisation in 160 countries linking the pleasure of good food with a commitment to local communities and the environment. Slow Food seeks to preserve local food traditions and reignite people’s interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and the impact of their food choices.

MAJOR WIN FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AS VICTORIA ANNOUNCES PLANNING REFORMS

June 27, 2018 by Tammi Jonas

The Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) is celebrating a win for small-scale pastured pig and poultry farmers – and everyone’s access to food grown in ethical and ecologically sound ways – with the Victorian Government’s announcement of the long-awaited reforms to the planning scheme.

The reforms acknowledge the very low risk these systems pose to environment and amenity, and introduce a streamlined permit application process for low density mobile outdoor pig and chicken farms, with no requirement for referrals to other agencies nor a notice and review period.

‘While we still maintain that small-scale pastured pig and poultry farms should not have been required to obtain a permit to farm in the Farming Zone, just as their grazing counterparts are not required to, we have accepted this compromise as a way forward to give local councils and communities confidence that our intentions to raise animals responsibly and respectfully are matched by our farming practices,’ said AFSA President Tammi Jonas.

Up until 2015 small-scale pastured pig and poultry farms were advised by councils across the state that they did not require permits as they were generally considered to be ‘extensive’ or grazing systems. However, a VCAT ruling in 2015 deemed free-range pig farm Happy Valley as ‘intensive’ due to importing the majority of the pigs’ feed.

The decision triggered a process that has taken three years to address what farmers, councils, and the state government all agreed was an unintended consequence of an imprecise definition.

AFSA mobilized its members and partnered with other organisations across the state such as Slow Food Melbourne, Open Food Network, and the Victorian Farmers Markets Association, which led to an unprecedented 270 submissions made to Agriculture Victoria late last year calling for scale-appropriate, risk-based planning provisions.

‘We are delighted at this outcome after years of working with the Victorian Government, and optimistic that small-scale regenerative farmers have a seat at the table now that we have collectivized our voices in an organization that the Government recognizes as the voice of small-scale farmers,’ said AFSA President Tammi Jonas.

‘Whilst the new scheme is not perfect, it blends solid scientific principles with a pragmatic approach for planners to ensure that our sector can continue to expand rapidly while protecting environment and amenity. The Government and its departments are to be congratulated for recognising the emergence of our sector and asking for our help to formulate this new policy,’ said Bruce Burton of Milking Yard Farm.

"Regrarians Ltd applauds the Victoria State Government's process since it released its draft reforms in September 2017. Working with partner organisations such as AFSA, VFMA along with many of our clients affected by these reforms, we have been encouraged by the professional collaboration of these stakeholders to work with the government such that the regenerative agriculture industry's interest and best practice have been included. We look forward to continuing the collaboration so that further development of the reforms serves the interests of a regenerative future for Victoria's agriculture," said Darren Doherty of Regrarians Ltd.

AFSA hopes this is the first of many amendments to legislation that is hampering the growth of regenerative agriculture across Australia, from scale-inappropriate planning schemes to food safety regulation.

‘We want to see regenerative farming become the new normal, with care for soil, water, animals, farm workers, and eaters at the core of our farming practices, but for this to happen, we need governments to shift their policy focus from supporting industrial agriculture to enabling regenerative farming.’

‘We’re encouraged by Minister for Agriculture Jaala Pulford’s announcement last month of the Artisanal Agriculture program, with $2 million earmarked to support our members in their efforts to grow food in ethical and ecologically-sound ways,’ said Jonas.

One significant concern that remains is the failure to include other species of poultry (such as ducks, geese, turkeys, quail and squab) in the streamlined process. However, ‘AFSA has been assured by the Minister that the work to include other species of poultry in the streamlined process will be undertaken as a matter of priority,’ said Jonas.

Contact: Tammi Jonas, President

m: 0422 429 362

MEDIA RELEASE: Annual Food Sovereignty Convergence to be held in Canberra October 23-24

October 16, 2017 by Courtney Young

Date of release: 16 October 2017

The Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) will host the annual Food Sovereignty Convergence in Canberra on the 23rd and 24th of October 2017 at the Burrungiri Cultural Centre.

The convergence will provide an opportunity for attendees to debate, share stories, analyse, strategise and plan towards building a fair food system for all Australians.

Held as an extension of Fair Food Week 2017, the Food Sovereignty Convergence will attract farmers, consumer advocates, right to food activists, urban agriculturalists, educators, communicators & innovators, and is open to anyone who sees themselves as part of Australia's food sovereignty movement.

The Food Sovereignty Convergence is run as an ‘un-conference’, allowing sessions to be determined democratically on each day and to encourage participation from attendees, as well as broad and inclusive discussions around the measures needed to promote Fair Food.

Topics up for discussion this year include issues around genetically modified (GM) technologies in agriculture, the impact of regulation and planning schemes on small-scale farmers, hunger activism and the 'right to food', and food sovereignty at a global level.

In addition to the un-conference agenda, the closing of the first day of the convergence will see Bruce Pascoe discuss reconciliation of First People's land management with the new movement of regenerative farming. Following this, a potluck dinner, for which separate tickets can be purchased, will be held on the Monday night at Canberra City Farm.

Penny Kothe of Caroola Farm, the Southern Harvest Association and AFSA Secretary, has said "Food Sovereignty should be important to all Australians. It represents one’s ability to choose who and where they buy their food from and in the case of farmers, to produce food that is a reflection of our deep understanding of how the land, animals and people are all interconnected.

The Food Sovereignty Movement and its allies advocate for size-appropriate legislation that is reflective of the true nature of small-scale, ethical farming operations. Coming together to discuss, plan and envision the ways in which we can strengthen the movement will allow farmers, eaters, legislators and everyone interested in Food Sovereignty to come together to connect over shared ideas and productive dialogue.”

This year, Bruce Pascoe is set to highlight the importance of events such as the Food Sovereignty Convergence in recognising the impact of First People's land management practices, and how the future of farming could look if we work with the First Peoples of Australia to utilise their ‘grossly undervalued’ knowledge to improve farming systems in this country.

"Imagine re-educating the nation and utilising the two major crops of Aboriginal Australia: yams (as well as other root vegetables) and grains. All of these plants were domesticated by Aboriginal people and these are the plants which offer the most exciting prospects for farming today."

Tickets for the 2017 Food Sovereignty Convergence can be purchased via the AFSA website or the Try Booking event page.

FOR INTERVIEW:

• Tammi Jonas, AFSA President M: 0422 429 362

INFORMATION:

• afsa.org.au

• Penny Kothe, AFSA Secretary E: admin@afsa.org.au

Victorian Government Welcomes Feedlots and Rejects Free Range Pigs & Poultry

October 2, 2017 by Tammi Jonas

The Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) is deeply disappointed at substance of the proposed new planning provisions from the Victorian Government’s work on Planning for Sustainable Animal Industries. Despite our efforts to assist Agriculture Victoria and the relevant ministers in understanding the practical realities of small-scale livestock farmers, the draft graduated controls don’t appear to reduce red tape for small-scale commercial farmers, nor homesteaders or hobbyists, and yet they make it easier than ever before to set up a 1000-cattle feedlot.

“It’s completely bizarre,” said AFSA President Tammi Jonas, a small-scale pastured pig and cattle farmer from Victoria. “The proposed new controls would mean that farms like mine with 12 sows and 2 boars, so about 100 pigs on 10 hectares of our 28-hectare farm at any time, would have to apply for a permit just like those with 1,000 pigs in a shed, and yet the farmer next door could put up to 1,000 cattle in a feedlot right up to our fence line without a permit nor a buffer. Whose interest does this really serve?”

Under the proposed new provisions, a hobbyist poultry grower could have up to 200 birds without a permit, but a 50m setback from dwellings on another property would apply. The next level, allegedly designed to better enable low-risk small-scale pastured livestock production in the Farming Zone, only allows up to 450 birds and requires a 100m setback – a prohibitive requirement on smallholdings that may be only 100m wide in some cases. For pigs, the ‘streamlined application process’ would only apply to farms with up to 8 sows and 1 boar plus ‘only’ their progeny, ruling out buying in new breeding stock to maintain genetic diversity, a real concern for the heritage breeds movement.

“This is a system designed to encourage huge intensive poultry farms and make it much harder for small scale, sustainable farms. It means that small farmers will yet again have to wade through huge amounts of red-tape - just the same as large-scale intensive farms. It’s just not viable,” exclaimed award-winning pastured poultry farmer Bruce Burton of Milking Yard Farm.

Small-scale farms would now become classified as Broiler Farms and be subject to the Victorian Code for Broiler Farms 2009. This means small growers with 500 broiler chickens spread across 20 hectares will be treated the same as farms with 500,000 birds in sheds.

The scheme fails to take account of the stocking density.

The scheme allows large intensive shed farms to add free range outdoor areas without any restrictions at all. It allows these farms to add 150,000 chickens to a range area without any of the restrictions placed on a small farmer with 500 chickens.

AFSA met with Agriculture Victoria prior to the public release and conducted a survey of small-scale livestock growers, sharing the 80 responses with the Department that showed how out of touch the stocking rates for streamlined applications were. We highlighted the regenerative practices many of these farms pride themselves on, such as frequent moves of animals, mobile housing and feed infrastructure, and a focus on maintaining pasture year round.

We are mystified at how poorly the draft planning provisions acknowledge the actual risks to environment and amenity presented by our members’ farms. The proposal to allow cattle feedlots of up to 1,000 cattle in the Farming Zone without a permit nor a setback from neighbours, while 100 pigs or 450 poultry in highly mobile systems trigger the notice and review process, suggests that there may not merely be ignorance of small-scale farming systems, but something more sinister at play.

We call on Minister for Agriculture Jaala Pulford and Minister for Planning Richard Wynne to explain why small-scale pastured pig and poultry farms are to be subjected to greater scrutiny and compliance costs than cattle feedlots, instead of being treated under the law like other grazing systems that rely on supplemental feed such as the majority of Victorian beef and dairy cattle.

Contact:

Tammi Jonas, President

president@afsa.org.au

0422 429 362