AFSA Archives - Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance

Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry – Film Screening Friday 8th December (Melbourne)

November 23, 2017 by Katie Johnston

AFSA, in conjunction with ORICoop are proud to present the heartfelt film: Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry. Produced by Robert Redford, Terrence Malick, & Nick Offerman and directed by Laura Dunn (The Unforeseen), this documentary is "a beautiful and poignant portrait of the changing landscapes and shifting values of rural America in the era of industrial agriculture, as seen through the eye of American novelist, poet, and activist, Wendell Berry".

As a special guest and pre-screening event, Charles Massy will discuss his groundbreaking new book, Call of The Reed Warbler. There will be an opportunity for Q & A with Charles, and copies of the book will be available for purchase on the night.

Join us for a night of discussion, learning and reflection around farming - in the past, the present and the future.

Watch the film trailer HERE.

TICKETS: $25, (AFSA & ORICoop Members $20).

(General admission tickets listed as "ORICoop Friends FRI" and AFSA Members listed as "AFSA Members FRI").

Post-film details TBC (we will be hitting up a local pub and would love to continue discussions after the film - we hope you'll join us!)

A few changes for the AFSA National Committee

June 20, 2017 by Food Sovereignty

Earlier this month, AFSA sadly farewelled Sally Ruljancich and Chris Balazs from the National Committee due to changed circumstances for both of them.

Sally was co-opted onto the Committee mid-2016, and served as President from October 2016, bringing a wealth of knowledge around fundraising, and promoting the principles of food sovereignty and AFSA’s objectives both on her own farm and her work for the Committee.

Chris has served as both Vice President and Secretary over nearly two years, and has contributed his knowledge and experience as a small-scale farmer with on-farm processing to the growing movement of farmers taking control of their value chains. He has been an ongoing support on the Executive, and we are grateful for his willingness to just get in and do whatever work needed to be done.

Thank you, Chris and Sally, for your contributions and commitment to working for a fair food future for Australia!

The Committee has appointed Tammi Jonas as interim President and Katarina Munksgaard as interim Vice President to serve until the AGM in October, which will take place at the Food Sovereignty Convergence to be held in Canberra 23-24 October.

AFSA also has several new committee members including Penny Kothe of Caroola Farm as secretary, Deepa Dureja as treasurer and Katie Johnston as Communications Officer. Phil Stringer of Tamworth Flyers is stepping into the role of Chair for Fair Food Farmers United.

Cheers from the AFSA team!

AFSA and the VFMA call for food safety regulators to be accountable

February 18, 2015 by Nick Rose

AFSA and the Victorian Farmers Markets Association have today released a joint public statement, calling on the Victorian Government to work with AFSA, VFMA and small producers to engage in open and constructive discussions about how to support the rapidly emerging local and fair food economy in Victoria.

Public statement – Cancellation of Regulator-Producer Forum

18TH FEBRUARY 2015

Regulatory costs and compliance have a major impact on the viability of all producers and food businesses. The need to ensure the flexibility to innovate is recognised by the Inquiry into the impact of food regulation on farms and other businesses (2013). In the same document the Victorian Government emphasises the value it places on the contributions of producers in policy-making.

Accordingly, the cancellation of the public multi-stakeholder discussion forum on regulation at Monash University on February 24 is a serious blow to public engagement and transparency.

This event, hosted by Monash University Law Faculty and co-sponsored by AFSA and the Victorian Farmers Markets Association (VFMA), was to be a landmark forum addressing the regulatory challenges in enabling the production and provision of safe, transparent, innovative, fair and local food in Victoria. Producers, regulators, industry representatives and certification agencies were invited to participate in two panels addressing the challenges and opportunities of ensuring safety and transparency in small scale food production and retailing.

The aim of this ground-breaking day was to generate a productive dialogue around the potential and opportunities for improving food regulation to build consumer confidence in and access to fair local food. This dialogue is essential to the co-creation of an effective, coherent and evidence-based regulatory environment that enables a strong and thriving local and fair food economy.

Shortly before the forum was due to take place, AFSA and the VFMA were informed that it was being cancelled, and replaced with a closed invite-only workshop focused just on food labeling issues. AFSA and the VFMA are deeply disappointed that a unique opportunity for a constructive and productive dialogue between regulators and producers has been lost. Many producers were excited by the opportunity for this dialogue and were prepared to travel long distances, at their own time and expense, to take part in it.

We believe it is the public duty of these regulators to engage in open and constructive dialogue with producers. As publicly-funded agencies with significant enforcement powers conferred by legislation, we are concerned that this last-minute cancellation of a public event demonstrates disregard for public accountability and openness to scrutiny.

Further, we believe this stance to be inconsistent with the publicly-stated values and missions of each regulator. Dairy Food Safety Victoria states its values as follows (emphasis added):

Respect

We value diverse opinions, strengths and ideas, and consider the feelings of others.

Integrity
We are honest, open and transparent in our dealings with all stakeholders and will match our behaviours to our words

'Can do’
We are always willing to help stakeholders and each other and strive to continually improve the way we work whilst remaining adaptable and open to change

Fairness
We are fair, objective and courteous in all dealings with industry, stakeholders and our employees

The mission of Prime Safe is (emphasis added):

To regulate and advance food safety in the Victorian meat, poultry and seafood industries through a credible, effective and efficient quality assurance system that facilitates opportunities for industry growth and innovation

Despite the opportunity lost with the cancellation of the forum, AFSA and the VFMA will continue our efforts to engage regulators in a constructive dialogue of how they might work within the existing regulatory framework to best support and enable the producers and communities who are building local, transparent and fair food systems.

At the same time, accumulated experience from many producers does, in our view, make a powerful case of the need for a simplified and coherent regulatory framework that enables the emerging local and fair food system to flourish. Anecdotal evidence from many producers reveals that such costs and compliance, and at times heavy-handed enforcement, has a crushing and at times terminal effect on viability.

A case in point is the summary closure of the Giles Family Abattoir in Trafalgar, Gippsland, at the end of 2012, after images of a pig escaping on the slaughterhouse floor were passed by Animals Australia to PrimeSafe. The business employed 30 locals and contributed $7 mn to the local economy, yet its licence was cancelled in a manner that owner Colin Giles felt was most unfair:

Colin Giles says that PrimeSafe's [Deputy Chief Brendan] Ryan told him at the Melbourne meeting that it was an "open-and-shut case" of cruelty and that he was cancelling their abattoir licence permanently. They were also warned that any animal cruelty charges, if proven, could carry a jail sentence.

"Then PrimeSafe told us that if we surrendered our licence to them that afternoon, there would be no further investigation," Giles recalled this week.

"And then they asked us what we thought. But I don't think we said much at all. We were devastated, dumbfounded -- we certainly felt like we were being forced to hand our licence in."[1]

Therefore:

We call on the Victorian government to ensure that food safety regulators are held accountable to the Victorian public as a whole, and in particular the industries they are established to regulate and support.

We also call on the Victorian government to work with stakeholders across the food system to understand the need for regulatory reform and explore options for the most suitable and effective way this can be achieved. Such reforms must be guided by the need to balance the principles of:

Ensuring public safety
Supporting a thriving and diverse local and fair food economy
Promoting open consultation
Enhancing transparency and accountability
Building food literacy and guaranteeing the public’s right to know

* * * *

For comment / interviews, contact Tammi Jonas, AFSA President, M: 0422 429 362 / Wayne Shields, VFMA President, M: 0400 643 341

About the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance

AFSA is a national alliance of farmers, food entrepreneurs, public health professionals, community gardeners, farmers market coordinators, journalists, researchers and local food advocates who share the vision of a fair food future for all Australians. AFSA draws inspiration from and is founded on the principles of food sovereignty.

Founded in 2010, AFSA has provided national vision and leadership through collaboratively creating Australia's first Peoples Food Plan, and in coordinating Australia's first Fair Food Week. In 2015 AFSA is launching Australia's first Fair Food feature documentary, which tells the stories of Australian farmers, social entrepreneurs, and urban agriculturalists who are transforming Australia's food future.

About the Victorian Farmers Markets Association

The Victorian Farmers’ Markets Association (VFMA) is a not for profit organisation, founded in 2002, that supports and promotes authentic farmers’ markets throughout Victoria by:

a) Representing members on a range of industry issues.

b) Providing a central information point for shoppers and industry alike. We support 40 accredited farmers markets around Victoria.

The VFMA represents myriad types of Victorian farmers and food producers who trade at our accredited markets. VFMA accreditation aims to ensure our farmers’ market customers are buying what they expect, with genuine informed choice, as well as providing a fair environment for local small-medium scale food growers and producers to prosper. The VFMA accredited farmers’ markets provide a reliable benchmark distinct from non-accredited markets - primarily no middle men/re-selling – only the genuine growers and their production staff, reconnecting people with their food sources and producers with their consumers.

The VFMA and our stakeholders share the vision of a fair food future for all, from farmers and along the food production chain to consumers. The VFMA has collaboratively consulted with AFSA regarding Australia's first Peoples Food Plan, and in promoting Australia's Fair Food Week.

[1] Reproduced from the 22 March 2012 Australian story by Rural Reporter Sue Neales – for the full story see http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/piggy-in-the-middle/story-e6frg6z6-1226306631801.

To read the full statement, follow this link

AFSA VFMA Joint Public Statement Cancellation of Regulator-Producer Forum 18.2.15

AFSA Retreat Report

February 8, 2015 by Food Sovereignty

The annual AFSA committee retreat at Point Lonsdale, held on the weekend of February 6-8, 2015, was a highly successful and motivating event that brought together many members of the new Committee for the first time.

Those able to attend were:

President Tammi Jonas
Vice-President Jeff Pow
Secretary Nick Rose
Communications Officer Alana Mann and
Committee members:
- Louise Abson
- Michele Lally and
- Clare Richards.

What was quickly apparent was the nation-wide coverage AFSA is achieving through its new Committee, with representatives from South Australia, Victoria, NSW, WA and both ‘ends’ of Queensland – the South-East and the Far North.

This is a great opportunity to strengthen the presence and support that AFSA can offer its members in all states. We hope to see this scope reflected in our growing membership, which we aim to increase by 50 per cent by the end of 2015 under the keen stewardship of newly elected Membership Coordinator, Michele Lally.

High on the agenda of the weekend was recognising and consolidating the links that we have with other organisations that are part of the Fair Food movement, and in identifying areas we need to develop new partnerships, such as with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The Retreat discussions constantly returned to the question of our key mandate and goals. We are a grass-roots organisation that takes its authority for decision-making from its members. Accordingly, AFSA needs mechanisms to draw on the expertise and opinions of long-standing members and other supporters who can make vital contributions to the development and progression of the Fair Food agenda. Therefore, as a Committee, we are going to work hard to develop more targeted communications that focus on the issues that our members are most concerned about, and provide ample opportunities for dialogue and collaboration.

We constantly returned to AFSA’s four main goals in our planning:

Goal 1 – Create a coherent and inclusive national narrative about Fair Food

We recognize the need to clearly define what we mean by ‘fair food’ and to support our arguments rigorously with facts and case studies that highlight the work and achievements of all our constituents, especially women and young people, in creating a fairer food system, one that is inclusive and celebrates diversity.

Goal 2 – Raise awareness about the serious challenges faced by our food and farming systems

There is a lot of misinformation about food and farming in Australia, and a dangerous complacency about our food security as a nation. Therefore part of our mission is to debunk the myths and assumptions concerning issues ranging from food safety and labeling to sustainable methods of production, animal welfare, large-scale foreign land investment and trade. In engaging on these topics we aim to create an open culture of information-sharing and decision-making, based on transparency and democratic engagement of all citizens.

Goal 3 – Campaign for policy and legislative change at the local, state and federal levels

Drawing on the experience and best practice of our members we aim to further develop the capacity of AFSA to engage broad-based coalitions on critical issues such as the regional impacts of climate change, fair and consistent regulation, and the funding of local food initiatives. We seek to identify policies and legislation that contribute to an unfair food system, and counter these through lobbying, campaigns and formal submissions. We aim not just to complain, but to offer viable solutions.

Goal 4 – Work with our members to develop strategies and actions that expand the growth of a fair food system in Australia

Central to this goal is identifying and sharing the inspiring projects, models and initiatives that are already in train across our nation. Peer-to-peer knowledge exchange and advice on compliance are among the ways AFSA can support members. Many of these strategies and actions are spelt out in the Peoples’ Food Plan (PFP).

This takes us to some key outcomes of the Retreat. One objective is to update the PFP to include more farmer perspectives, engage with indigenous issues and better reflect AFSA’s positions on key policies including regulation and trade. Our agreed positions on each issue are:

Regulation

AFSA supports fair, consistent application of the regulation of food to ensure it is produced and distributed safely. In contrast to regulation, prohibition creates the dilemma that should people persist in accessing a prohibited food, there is not consistent regulated process governing its production and distribution. The public health risks therefore remain for people who continue to access such food. The human reality is that some people choose for reasons of personal and cultural beliefs to access such foods even if prohibited. For all of these reasons AFSA favours fair and consistent regulation, built in democratic consultation with all stakeholder groups, for all foods.

Trade

AFSA supports a shift away from competitive free trading arrangements, towards the development of fair, transparent and co-operative trading relations between peoples and countries, in which the benefit of all peoples is paramount.

A further objective was to tailor an AFSA definition of food sovereignty, based on that of the global farmers’ movement, La Via Campesina:

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.

Other key outcomes

Other key outcomes of the Retreat include the appointment of Jeff Pow as the official spokesperson for the Fair Food Farmers United (FFFU). Over the next few months Jeff will be working closely with the Communications team to raise the profile of the ‘Triple FU’ and engage a wide range of producers across all states. This awareness raising will be facilitated by the well-attended screenings of Fair Food documentary, which continues to motivate urban and rural audiences to become part of our growing movement.

In conclusion, our weekend of reflection and planning in Point Lonsdale showed us that AFSA has made significant progress in opposing the dominant forces of Big Food and its supporters, since the inception of the People’s Food Plan in 2012. Though we are not as well resourced as our opponents, we have bigger hearts and strength in numbers.

We look forward to working in solidarity with you in 2015.

Fair Food Documentary – Details for Screenings

February 3, 2015 by Nick Rose

This is the text of an email sent to all those who have expressed interest in hosting a screening of the Fair Food documentary

Dear Friends

Fair Food – the documentary!

Thank you so much for your support of AFSA and the Fair Food movement in Australia. We are very excited to be collaborating with communities all around the country in sharing some truly inspiring stories of the wonderful people transforming our food system. In this email we are providing details about how you can obtain a copy of Fair Food from us, arrangements for screening, and the support in terms of materials and promotion and, if possible, speakers, that we can provide.

Obtaining the DVD

Once the licence fee (see below) is paid and the licence agreement signed, a copy of the Fair Food DVD will be sent to your nominated address. The releasedate for the DVD will be confirmed in a subsequent email but is likely to be between mid-February and early March. The film is 1 hour 4 minutes duration.

Resources and event ideas

How you choose to organise the event is entirely up to you, and we recognise and celebrate that many of you will no doubt have more experience than us in running similar events. We want to help make your event as successful and enjoyable as possible, and so we are putting together some resources and strategies from our own experience hosting film events, as options for you to consider.

Materials / Resources

Here are some of the resources available – let us know on the order section at the base of the licence agreement which, if any, you would like: • A5 small flyers about Fair Food & AFSA • A4 flyers with more information about Fair Food and Food Sovereignty in Australia and why we need a Fair Food movement • Scripts or guided conversation outlines are available to use to introduce the film and to use at the end of the screening to stimulate discussion

Speaker / panel discussions

Wherever and whenever possible AFSA will attempt to have a local AFSA member available to your screening to discuss fair food and food sovereignty issues in Australia, the work of AFSA, and to take part in any speaking slots or panel discussions you may wish to conduct.

Fair Food Week, October 2015

We encourage all groups and organisations conducting screenings to make attendees aware of Fair Food Week in October 2015 (www.fairfoodweek.org.au) and if possible guide discussion around what event or events could be planned in your local area to celebrate Fair Food Week this year.

Event ideas

And here are some event ideas which have worked well elsewhere:

instead of (or to supplement) catering, invite attendees to bring a plate of locally grown food, local fruit or drinks
set up a photo booth with the #fairfood hashtag, and card and textas available for people to write a short message about what fair food means to them and have their photo taken. Photos can be shared on our AFSA / Fair Food Week Facebook pages and with our Instagram account (http://instagram.com/fairfoodnow/) to celebrate your screening. For inspiration, check out this photo album put together by members of the Lakeside Drive Community Garden for Fair Food Week 2013: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.543397022400692.1073741832.125167374223661&type=3
if you decide to have some discussion afterwards, and you and the participants feel comfortable doing so, it would be great to capture a few views and opinions about local fair food issues on a short video. We can add these to our YouTube channel and also upload them to the Fair Food doco website, www.justfoodfilms.com, to share what’s happening in your community with the rest of the country and the world.

Cost

Fair Food is available to community groups for a one-time licence fee of $300. Please see the attached FAIR FOOD – Licensing Agreement May 2015 for details of the licence conditions. If your organisation or group would have difficulty recouping the licence fee through ticket sales and sponsorships, or might otherwise have difficulty paying the full amount of this fee, please contact us to discuss alternative arrangements. Equally, as a non-profit association that is entirely reliant on member subscriptions and volunteer labour to sustain our advocacy programs and campaigns, if you are in a position to make an additional donation beyond the licence fee, we would be sincerely grateful. If you are uncertain about any of these terms, please contact AFSA via email or the numbers below to discuss and outline your questions.

Screenings near you

There are numbers of groups interested in hosting screenings planned for Adelaide, Brisbane and north coast NSW (Byron Bay). If you are in those regions and are not already in contact with others locally, please let us know so you can coordinate screenings, if it is decided to host more than one.

Membership of AFSA

Membership of AFSA is not a requirement for purchasing the DVD, but we would like to share a few reasons to consider becoming a member, whether as an individual ($10 / $25), farmer ($50), community group ($35), organisation or business ($100). Change doesn’t happen unless you work for it – and we have, over nearly five years:

created Australia’s first crowd-sourced food policy document – the People’s Food Plan, with the direct participation of 600 people in 40 public forums;
exposed the flawed and flimsy foundations of the previous Federal Government’s business-as-usual National Food Plan;
established a new national event to celebrate the farms, individuals and organisations transforming our food system – Fair Food Week – with over 210 events and more than 35,000 people participating in 2013 and 2014;
with the Field Institute, crowd-funded over $30,000 to make Australia’s first food politics documentary – Fair Food;
supported the establishment of local Fair Food Chapters in Brisbane, Adelaide, Sunbury, and Byron Bay, with more in formation;
created a dedicated advocacy and networking chapter for producers pioneering new ways of land stewardship and short supply chain relationships with their customers and communities – Fair Food Farmers United;
campaigned for a Local Food Act and multi-million dollar Local Food Fund to support and resource the efforts of all Australians who want a fair food future;
actively participated in the global food sovereignty movement by attending conferences of La Via Campesina and the International Planning Committee on Food Sovereignty, as well as participated in global food security governance negotiations at the World Committee on Food Security;
secured a contract with University of Queensland Press to write Australia’s first anthology of the Fair Food movement, which will be published later this year;
written dozens of articles for online publications and magazines, participated in many seminars, conferences and events as speakers, and been interviewed dozens of times on local and national radio to raise awareness of the key issues.

This is power of a social movement – the power of people working together united by a common vision and passion for change. And we’re just getting started! With your support and participation as individual and group members, we can really make the Fair Food movement in Australia become an unstoppable force for change. We also value greatly your support of AFSA by distributing the membership leaflet at the screenings and promoting membership to attendees. For details of how to join AFSA, please visit: afsa.org.au/join-us.

We are excited about the level of interest being shown around the nation in the Fair Food documentary. We are proud to have been part of bringing Australia’s first Fair Food documentary to you, and hope it will play a role in bringing us into greater connectedness and stimulate smart, innovative, creative action towards making our food system fairer for all.

If you would like any further information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch either by email or by phone at the numbers below.

Warmly,

Tammi Jonas
AFSA President
tammois@gmail.com
0422 429 362

Nick Rose
AFSA National Coordinator
admin@afsa.org.au
0414 497 819

On behalf of the AFSA National Committee