More and more people are embracing Fair Food – healthy nutritious food that is produced locally – at an affordable price for consumers and with a fair return to farmers. Fair Food Week 2014 will run from 10-19 October and will celebrate the International Year of Family Farming.

Michael Croft, President of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) said that Fair Food Week this year builds on a highly successful inaugural event last year.

“During Fair Food Week 2013, 112 events were held around the country including farmer’s markets, workshops, speakers’ forums, skills sharing and swapping, market fairs and film nights,” said Mr Croft. “Based on interest so far, it looks as if Fair Food Week 2014 will be bigger and better than last year’s event.”

“Everyone and anyone can take part in Fair Food Week – you just have to use your imagination. And AFSA will provide support, resources and a platform for you to let your community and the country know that you support a fair food system”, said Mr Croft.

Fair Food Week 2014 is built around four themes:

• Beyond the Trolley – Support Local Producers and Local Food Businesses
• Support Your Local Community Fair Food Projects and Groups
• Grow Our Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture
• Support Gasfield-free Communities.

According to Mr Croft: “’Beyond the Trolley’ focuses on supporting local farmers and food businesses — in other words, fair food shopping and eating.
“Concentrating economic power is seldom a good idea. It’s even less of a good idea when that power controls what we and our families eat. But that’s the situation we have today in Australia where two supermarket chains control more than 70 percent of the national grocery market.

“It’s not only the reality that what they offer their customers is a limited choice — a diet chosen by the supermarket buyers — it’s also that they use unfair marketing tactics to reduce small business opportunity and treat the farmers and Australian food processors that supply them in ways that are being increasingly questioned.

“A fair food system in Australia would do otherwise,” he argued.

“The second theme, ‘Supporting Your Local Community Fair Food Projects and Groups’, encourages people to organise a fundraiser for a local food project or group.
“Fair Food Week celebrates community self-help food initiatives such as food co-operatives, community supported agriculture, food rescue and farmers’ markets,” said Mr Croft. “Fair Food Week 2014 is the opportunity to raise funds for community food initiatives denied promised funding when the Federal Government cancelled the Community Food Grants scheme.

“’Grow Our Urban Agriculture’ is the third theme for this year’s Fair Food Week. It involves people encouraging their local council to establish a food policy or support campaigns for Local Food Acts in their state. One of the advantages of a Local Food Act is that it supports local agriculture, increasing the potential for cities to feed their population rather than relying on trucked-in food from factory farms.

“And finally, the fourth theme ‘Support Gasfield-free Communities’ encourages city and town dwellers to connect with farmers and rural communities who are asserting their food sovereignty in the face of government and industry demands to hand over land for coal-seam gas fracking.

“Now, farmers and urban people are saying ENOUGH! and are forming alliances to retain farmland for farming and public land for less damaging uses,” exclaimed Mr Croft.

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Media Contact: Michael Croft 0413 387 686