A range of producers, from the owners of backyard vegie patches to commercial growers, turned out for yesterday’s small-scale food production workshops at Laffing Waters.
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Some participants were keen to see a co-op established in Bathurst and others were interested in producing food for the co-op.
Facilitator Ross Macindoe said this balanced attendance was great news for the venture.
“At the moment there are not many growers because there is no market for their produce, and no market because no-one is growing,” he said.
Guest speakers included Michael Grabham, an irrigation specialist from the Bathurst Agricultural Research Station, Karen O’Malley who provided information on organic farming systems and Sue Smidt, one of the driving forces of the food co-op.
“All these great resources have been right under our noses,” Mr Macindoe said. “People have been very responsive and enthusiastic.
“They are starting to realise conventional systems are unsustainable and that in the next 50 years it will not be possible to farm the way we are doing now.
“Bathurst was famous for its asparagus but for most of the year we get our asparagus from Peru or Mexico.
“It’s my goal to see us producing 50 per cent of the food required to feed the people of Bathurst by 2050.”
Mr Macindoe said the small scale farming workshops were a lead up to a series of hands-on workshops designed to create a community garden. These will be held on the last Sunday of every month.
He said involving growers is the first step towards creating a food co-operative which will be based in a shopfront in downtown Bathurst by Christmas.
A similar food co-op in the Blue Mountains has proved so popular with consumers it has an annual turnover of $2 million.
Mr Macindoe said the conditions in Bathurst are ideal for growing organic and other kinds of produce.
