In the twelve months since I last gave an annual report on the Benalla food Co-op, there have been some considerable changes and events take place.
​
We had our first open day on 3rd May in 2011, having arrived at exactly ten years of operation. 
 
In 2011, when we had our first open day with twelve members and 28 products on offer, we did not envisage the successful outcome we now experience. Apart from the aims of the co-operative that you will be familiar with, I believe a huge contributing factor is an underlying appreciation at the food coop for the friendly atmosphere when shopping, and the empowerment of an independent group running it. It has enabled friendships to develop and provides an opportunity for like minded people to share company and commitment. 
We now stock 120 food items determined by request, quality of the product, availability, from where that product is sourced, and of course, popularity.  
 
Membership sits at around 70. This fluctuates over any given year, but importantly there is a large group of regular shoppers requiring us to open once per week.
Over the years, I have particularly enjoyed researching products and discovering new suppliers.  There has always been opportunity to introduce new products and discontinue others not so popular. In all we have twelve product suppliers.  We are proud to support many valued local and regional producers in our district such as King Valley Walnuts, Florence Court Olive Oil from Benalla, Lima East honey, nuts and seeds from the Pumpkin Seed Company, and our latest addition, Apple Cider Vinegar from Stanley.

There are a huge number of tasks required with running the food co-op. Duty managers, duty assistants, computer operators, taking delivery of products, unpacking products, paying the bills and the list goes on. It was always my belief that by spreading these tasks amongst the members, we are in the true sense a 'co-operative',  run by the members. This has enabled us to keep the prices affordable whilst offering high quality products, benefitting all who participate. 

Drastic changes to our operational procedures required to comply with COVID restrictions in 2020, became a serious focal point. We were no less busy than usual with a large number of community members joining the food co-op throughout the early part of COVID restrictions.  In recent times we have been able to relax many of those procedures whilst continuing to maintain a COVID safe environment.                                           
Ten years is good reason for some celebratory events, the first being, and a lucky door prize for the tenth customer, who shopped on the 3rd May 2021. Then on the 4th June, food co-op members are invited to attend a dinner to celebrate 10 years of operation along with my retirement.
 
After ten years as coordinator, I felt it was time that I hand over to someone else. Susanne Bennett came to mind and after some thought, she agreed to take on the position for which we can all be grateful.  We can look forward to a committed member who will bring leadership and a lovely presence to the forefront. I wish Susanne all the best, lots of fun and with the knowledge that you have the support of all the committee with you.

Christine Holmes

"It's not that many months since we had our previous AGM by Zoom in September, but there seems to have been a steady stream of activity on the environmental and sustainability front since then.

I do believe that the tide is finally turning with respect to worldwide action on climate change - sadly, not so much in Australia, because of the inability of the major political parties to comprehend the urgency of the problem. We can only hope that businesses will continue to modify their enterprises towards low carbon models, and that this will drag Australia in the right direction.
​
Climate scientists have been telling us for some time that this is the critical decade in tackling climate change, so BSFG needs to ensure that this message is heard by our community and its leaders. To this end, we organised the Climate Science talks in late February, with Dr Leanne Webb (CSIRO), Dr Lynette Bettio (BOM), Dr Helen Haines (Independent MHR, Indi), and Cr Jenny O'Connor (Mayor of Indigo Shire) as guest speakers. Approximately 130 people attended, including Benalla Mayor, Danny Claridge and Councillors O'Brien and Gunaratne, as well as the Benalla P-12 College student leaders. These student leaders have subsequently participated in the BSFG presentation to Benalla Council in March, as well as leading last Friday's Student Climate Action rally at the Ceramic Mural, with approximately 80 people taking part. This has been really encouraging for me personally, that finally there has been some engagement with our youth, and a real willingness on their part to become informed and take action.  I have requested a meeting with the P-12 College Administration to discuss the level of school engagement on the issues of climate change and sustainability. The other aspect of this engagement, I believe, is that the student's involvement has possibly influenced a shift in attitude of our local Councillors towards climate change - we will know more in the coming weeks when Council deliberates on whether to declare a climate emergency - an action that would require Council to focus its planning more acutely on sustainability issues.

Since resuming our meeting schedule after Covid, in November we screened the movie "Kiss the Ground", highlighting land restoration projects from around the world, and in March, we watched the Bob Brown Foundation documentary, "Forest Defenders", followed by a talk from Bert Lobert, giving us an update on the Strathbogie State Forest situation.

Renewable Energy Benalla continues to work towards its goal of making Benalla into a net zero carbon emissions town. It has reverted to being an action group of BSFG again, but as convenor, John Lloyd says in his report, they need more people to come on board to help in their endeavours. I urge all BSFG members and supporters to consider being involved in this work, as transforming our energy systems and becoming more energy efficient, are the major ways in which we can reduce our emissions and help avert the worst effects of climate change. Congratulations to REB for securing the funding to complete their first project of solar panels at Munro Ave Kindergarten.
I am extremely proud of Christine Holmes' work over the past ten years in planning, setting up, and coordinating the operations of the Benalla Food Co-operative. Christine, along with the people who have helped in the planning and operation of the Co-op, have through countless hours of volunteer time, established an organisation that has provided the community with choice, an opportunity to meet new friends, and of course to reduce food packaging and food miles, and support local producers where possible. Having successfully negotiated their way through the Covid problems of 2020, the Co-op can now look forward to expanding its membership base, and help spread the message of sustainable use of our resources more widely in the community. I wish Susanne Bennett all the best as she takes over Christine's role as coordinator.

I would also like to commend Larissa Montgomery for the many years she spent as the Environmental Officer of Benalla Rural City and thank her for the support and advice she gave to BSFG over that time. In recent times, Larissa worked extensively with REB to help them formulate their vision and action plans. We wish her well in her new position with DELWP.

Finally, I again wish to thank, and congratulate a number of members who have contributed greatly to the work of BSFG this past year. Thankyou to all committee members for your open and frank discussions in organising events, formulating submissions, and in keeping records, handling finances, sending out messages. Thanks to Ian Herbert for again editing and publishing our newsletter (and to all who have contributed articles), and we also thank Ian for his efforts in putting together the program for the Swanpool Environmental Film Festival (Sat 19th June) which we all eagerly anticipate, after the disruption of 2020.

In this era, no organisation could successfully reach out to its community without the assistance of technology, and we owe a great deal of gratitude over the past 6 years to Bev Lee and Peter Maddock especially, and more recently to Heath Whiley, Kim Lukey and Karen Nankervis, for the marvellous BSFG and REB websites, where events are publicised, interesting articles are posted and reports archived."
 
Peter Holmes
​Thursday 27 May 2021

A reminder that the Benalla Student Climate Rally takes place tomorrow, Friday 21st May at the Benalla Ceramic Mural from 4-5pm.

It would be great for many of us to be there and show strong support for the students, and bring a placard with the theme of "Fund Our Future - Not Gas". 

This just became even more relevant in the light of Wednesday’s announcement of $600 million going to build a gas power station at Kurri Kurri. It is critical that we send a strong message that this is just not acceptable, especially when the energy sector itself is questioning why????

Hope to see you there,

Judy Schwarzman
Secretary, BSFG.

Coming out of COVID, will we return to ‘business as usual’
or will Australia embark upon a linear path towards zero emissions? 

SWANPOOL ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL 2021

Feature films, documentaries, guest speakers!
Three sessions with breaks for afternoon tea and an evening meal:

Session One: Ass Prof Michael-Shawn Fletcher and film ‘Beyond the Burning’

Session Two: Film 'Fairytales of Growth', Dr Kerryn Higgs, and film ‘Once You Know’
 
Session Three: Panel Discussion and Short Films, and film “Wild Things’

Booking essential on TryBooking.
Phone 0498 007 988 for enquiries.

Afternoon tea and dinner included.
Catering by Swanpool Catering Team.

Dear BSFG Members and Supporters,

We would like to invite you to attend our AGM, with guest speaker Dr Lisa Farnsworth, Winton Wetlands Restoration Ecologist.

The meeting is at 7:30pm Thursday 27th May in the Benalla Uniting Church Fellowship Room. Supper will be served at the conclusion of the evening.

For any of our supporters considering joining BSFG, please come along; you can join up at the meeting and would be most welcome. 

BSFG financial members are encouraged to consider nominating to join the committee. If you would like more information about joining the committee, either as a committee member or in any of the executive roles, please contact the current president, Peter Holmes on 0438 625 638.

Nomination forms (attached) can be scanned and emailed to bsfginc@gmail.com, or contact Peter and bring a hard copy to the AGM.

We hope to see you there.


Judy Schwarzman
Secretary BSFG 

What is happening in Benalla? 

Food policy Advocacy 

• The North East Local Food Strategy 2018-2022:  A guide for all local governments to include sustainable food systems in their next 4 year plans https://gatewayhealth.org.au/images/brochures/NE_Local_Food_Strategy_2018_2022.pdf
• Open Food Network; Open Road Project: Launched a media release  'Australia Post Decision Opens the Way for a New Food Delivery Projectt. OFN will be running a project as a delivery service around North East Victoria to enable local producers to act independently. A Hume Highway loop is being established with food hubs in Strathbogie, Wangaratta Farmers Market, Beechworth Food Coop. EOI are open for any local producers, coops and retailers. Email openroad@openfoodnetwork.org.au

 
Support Local Food Activities

• Benalla Food Coop see website for upcoming dates Benalla Food Co-operative (bsfg.org.au)
• Grow Free food swap cart (was at Benalla Health) has just been moved to Cecily Court with the Tomorrow Today Foundation!  A great way to share excess produce with the community!
• Benalla Central Community Garden have applied for a Vic Health grant to host after school kitchen/garden sessions with children in Grade 5-8 at the community garden.
• Benalla Central Community Garden hosting garden open days https://www.facebook.com/Benalla-Central-Community-Garden-106810107405039/
• Benalla Health and St Vincent de Paul Society have applied for more grants to continue to build wicking garden beds for vulnerable community members. Rather than using apple crates (issues with leaking, unable to move, labour to build) we are looking at portable, smaller ones e.g. raised on wheels. If successful Benalla Men’s Shed will be constructing these. We are open to ideas on how to build these portable garden beds!
• Waminda Neighbourhood House have set up a drop in food pick up, in partnership with Second Bite. Running On Thursday mornings.
• Waminda Neighbourhood House has been granted funding to construct public garden beds for the community at the front of the house (Ballintine st). 
• Delivery of fruit and veg boxes- Fruits N Fare, Good Vibes Wholefoods Store- Balaji and Karthika
• Online platforms available to share excess food. Ripe Near me- an online platform to sell/give away free food. Web based platform https://www.ripenear.me/

 
Ideas for the future

• Beechworth Food Coop hosted a Patch to Patch event (18th April 2021) where people could visit open gardens and orchards. This is a day of backyard garden inspirations. Perhaps we could run one similar to this in Benalla in 2021/2022? Could involve Waminda, Benalla Central Community Garden. Benalla Community Health staff garden, Waller St Garden and other private gardens around Benalla?  PATCH TO PATCH - Beechworth Food Co-op (beechworthfoodcoop.org.au)
• Buy from North East Victoria (Buy From Benalla) online platform for small and medium local businesses has been given more grant money to continue to build online markets. https://www.buyfrombenalla.com.au
• NEW: Acres and Acres is a community market garden that has started in Corryong. https://acresandacres.com.au/ The mission is to create a network of  Market Gardens across the Upper Murray and North East Victoria, to build resilience through the production of fresh produce across the local area.

Kathryn McQualter
Convenor - Benalla Local Food Network Action Group

Links:
Benalla Local Food Network - Minutes of Meeting held May 5 2021
​Australia Post Decision Opens the Way to a New Food Delivery Model

Climate Ready Hume has a new web page on the Victorian Government Engage Victoria site - here's the link - go to https://engage.vic.gov.au/hume-regional-climate-change-adaptation-strategy

Newsletters 2021 
February 2021
​March 2021 
April 2021 - special edition for public consultation of the draft Regional Adaptation Strategy
May 2021 - includes a report on BSFG Action Group Renewable Energy Benalla's Community Energy Project Launch at Mujnro Avenue Pre-School

Sunday May the 2nd is International Permaculture Day, and what better way to celebrate Permaculture than meet up with your fellow Permies to chew the fat as it were about all things Permaculture.

We're meeting on Jaycee Island, access behind the CFA shed. To find us just keep an eye out for the Big Benalla Permaculture Banner!

We are planning a communal picnic, so please bring a plate to share, preferably with some nice yummy food on it. I believe there is a Public BBQ on the island, I (Woz) will check and confirm.

BYO Crockery & Cutlery, Drinks, Chairs, Picnic Rug, etc. Children welcome under supervision.

Plan to arrive around 11 for the Meet and Greet part, Lunch will be at 12. Beyond that, there is no real schedule for the day other than just getting to know each other and have some friendly conversations.

COVID - We will run a sign in sheet for tracking if necessary. Please observe the usual COVID precautions. If you are feeling unwell, have tested positive for COVID or are awaiting test results, then for the benefit of all, please stay at home, rest up and get better..

Warwick Bone (Woz)

Beechworth Health Service is hosting a fully subsidised workshop Exploring Social Enterprise about the business model of social enterprise for those who operate in any aspect of the North East Victorian local food system. The workshop - to be held on the 13th and 14th May at the Old Beechworth Jail from 9.15 am to 4pm - is for Individuals, organisations and businesses that operate or are seeking to establish a social enterprise that forms any part of the North East local food system. This includes:

• food producers / growers
• harvesting / processing / packaging
• transporting
• marketing 
• retail / co-ops  / restaurants/ cafes / food businesses that sell or use local food, or would like to
• food disposal / waste
• emergency food relief

Participants must live in, or be operating their project in one of the following Local Government Areas: Indigo, Alpine, Wodonga, Wangaratta, Benalla, Mansfield & Towong.

The workshop is delivered by the Australia Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship at the Old Beechworth Goal in Beechworth.  It is fully funded by the Beechworth Health Service.  

For full details and to register please visit:  https://your.socialenterprise.academy/course/view.php?id=560

There is also a Facebook post on the ACRE page that can be shared:  https://www.facebook.com/ACREAustralia

Web team convenor Peter Maddock recently described 'having an existential crisis' in response to the book and film 'Bright Green Lies' which question the renewables industrial complex. ​

Peter came across the film on Kindle just as he had finished reading Dead In The Water by Richard Beasley which he describes as 'A very angry book about our greatest environmental catastrophe. . . the death of the Murray-Darling Basin'.

'Hot Topics' are invariably highly complex 'wicked' if not 'super wicked' problems.  An excellent resource on wicked and super wicked problems, Chris Riedy's 'Climate Change is a Super Wicked Problem',  highlights the difficulty we have in making headway on dealing with climate change, and many environmental issues and the need for bipartisan approaches.   .

Another important article on complexity uses the analogy of a complex chess game to discuss the 'super wicked' policy problem of climate change. In  'We Need to “See the Whole Board” to Stop Climate Change', Project Drawdown's Executive Director Dr Jonathon Foley suggests that addressing climate change is like playing chess. "We need to use all the pieces, employ multiple strategies, and see the whole board. But, unlike chess, we have to play this game collaboratively to win."

Bev Lee
Web Team

An important event in the Sustainable Future calendar in North East Victoria, the Off the Grid Festival's once again provided a wonderful opportunity for showcasing possibilities for a sustainable future through a range of lenses. 

The Off the Grid Festival at Eldorado clearly relates to this year's United Nations International Year of the Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, which recognises the need to promote sustained and inclusive economic growth, foster innovation and provide opportunities, benefits and empowerment for all and respect for all human rights. It certainly fits in terms of the way in which it encourages diversification of production in to sustainable growth areas, including creative industries, and raises awareness, promote cooperation and networking, encourage sharing best practices and experiences, enhance human resource capacity, promote an enabling a sustainable environment at all levels as well as tackle the challenges of the creative economy.' 

"CEO, Mayor and Councillors – thank you for opportunity to talk to you

I represent a group of approximately 80 paid up members, and 400 other community members with whom we are in regular contact. All of us, and many more within this community, share a very real concern about the current and future health of our planet. We recognise that there is irrefutable scientific evidence that human induced climate change is occurring, that the data trends on temperature, rainfall, sea levels, ice-cap melts, and greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, are all heading in the wrong direction, and more significantly, the rates of change are not actually slowing down.

We understand that having recognised the problem, we have an urgent responsibility to do all we can to fix it, because we have a responsibility, not just to our present generation, but to all who follow. We are acutely aware that as the Earth continues to warm, many regions will become uninhabitable, our food production systems will completely break down, our health systems will struggle to cope with the increased number of diseases, and the rate of creature extinctions will accelerate. This is not a future I, and all of us here want to leave for our descendants.

The problem with climate change is, that it appears to be happening so slowly, that we don't all quite see the urgency, unlike the coronavirus pandemic. The reality is however, that in Earth years it is happening rapidly, because over the last 200 years, this is the first time there have been so many humans on the planet, and all of our processes have become so industrialised, and dependent on energy consumption - energy largely produced by burning fossil fuels, releasing greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. What we also need to understand, is that there are critical areas on our planet that control the weather, and a number of these places have possibly already reached their climate tipping points, from which it will be extremely difficult to pull back. Eg. the Arctic region is already 3.5 degrees warmer than pre-industrial times, compared to the average increase across the whole of Earth of 1.2 degrees. Already in the Arctic, permafrost ice has melted, resulting in methane gas escaping into the atmosphere, and this gas is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

The solutions are not simple, but not impossible either. We just need the collective political and community will to achieve what is required. Unfortunately, over the past couple of decades, action has been suppressed by various means, so that now we have reached the point where the solutions need to be implemented so much more urgently, than if we had started 20 years ago.

There are 2 major parts to the solution. Firstly, we must stop adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere (we were able to achieve repair of the ozone layer by virtually eliminating the use of hydrofluorocarbons), and we need to do this much sooner than 2050. Climate Scientists are telling us that on all the current evidence available, we need to do this by 2030, if warming is to be kept below 1.5 to 2 degrees. The second part is that we also need to draw down carbon from the atmosphere, because if we don't, the carbon that we have already put up there will continue to magnify the effects for decades to come.

We believe that the solutions are not just the responsibility of government, but all sectors of our communities must take action. Federal and State governments obviously have a role to play in enacting legislation and policies that facilitate solutions, so that businesses and individuals can then more readily make the changes required. But, we as a community and Local Government have just as important a role to play, in agitating and advocating for change, and in leading by example.

So what are we requesting Council to do? Over the past month, I appreciated the opportunity to chat with most of you about climate change, and to ask you to share your thoughts on Council's role in tackling this problem. All who I talked with acknowledged that climate change is real, but not all agreed that the problem was urgent, or that council could do any more than they perceived it was already doing. Some even suggested that to take all the required actions might send Council broke. Our concern is that not to take the required actions now, will certainly put future generations in this community in a very precarious position, as they struggle with livability, health, and economic issues - all of which will be on a much greater scale of difficulty than we presently face.

We acknowledge that Council has already undertaken a number of measures which reduce the municipality's greenhouse gas emissions. Amongst these are the installation of solar systems on Council properties, residential street lighting upgrades (which are currently saving around $50,000 and 250 tonnes of GHG annually), and Council building lighting upgrades, planning being undertaken to introduce EVs to the Council fleet, planning for cabling to be installed in a new carpark for EV charging points, solar battery off-grid at the landfill facility, and we also acknowledge Council's role in approving planning applications for a number of solar farms in the district, which although assisting with reducing greenhouse gases, cannot be directly counted in our own municipality's reductions. All these actions are excellent, but there are many others that we believe will send an even stronger message to the community, and that will actually convey to the community that there is hope for a better future.

BSFG is not going to present you with a complete list here tonight, as we believe that is a function of a community consultation exercise which we hope can be urgently implemented, not just as part of the Council Plan discussions currently underway, but as a dedicated discussion around the topic of climate change action. We think there are a number of advocacy roles that council can undertake, such as facilitating large battery storage installation adjacent to the solar farms, and encouraging new technology industries to Benalla - industries associated with renewable power production and EV sales and maintenance are 2 that come to mind. Other areas we have identified as possible are the further upgrading to LED lighting in all residential street areas of Benalla and surrounding townships (which again will lead to an additional saving of $50,000 and 250 tonnes of GHG per year), signing up to greenpower electricity plans, identifying suitable EV charging station locations in Benalla, and encouraging suppliers to install them now, advocate for electric buses  on our town bus routes, develop a much more extensive bike lane route around Benalla to encourage more students to ride to school, and residents to ride to the shops, further upgrades of our landfill to possibly introduce a recycle material Tip-shop, and through council's planning department, encourage developers and builders to establish sustainable communities with cooler green open spaces, and higher star rating buildings which will considerably reduce energy consumption. Some of these suggestions will require an initial financial outlay, but in a short period of time will be paid back in savings, as well as far into the future.  

We have come here tonight to respectfully request that Council receives our petition, signed by approximately 600 residents, from all walks of life, across all age groups. These people are not lunatic, scare-mongering Greenies, as some in the media like to portray us - there are farmers, business people, health professionals, shop assistants, students, pensioners, factory workers, educators, and environmentalists all included in this petition. Our request is that Council:

1. Acknowledges that human actions have contributed substantially to the increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in the warming of the planet, and leading to an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events
2. Declares a Climate Emergency, and that within six months, it implements policies and actions to reduce our community's greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2030.

Peter Holmes
​BSFG President
March 24th 2021"
 

​'​Wednesday, 24 March 2021 
​     
Dear Food Co-op Members,

I am writing to report to you that after ten years, I have decided to step down and retire from being the Benalla Food Co-op Coordinator. I thought it would be fitting to also give a little history of the developments over the years as to how the food co-op evolved.

It has been over ten years (2010) since I had the first thought to start a food co-op in Benalla. I flagged the idea at a forum on sustainability organised by the then, Benalla District Environment Group (now BSFG). Nothing came of it for a while and I didn’t want to take this on alone. But one by one a few others gave expressions of support.

They were Kathy Murphy, Lynne Seaman (relocated to Brisbane) and Tanya Walker. We met together over a period of 9 months to discuss a plan of action. Venue, freight, supplier, food health and safety were just a few major considerations that had to be worked through.

Initially, without any finance, we relied on setting up costs coming from a membership fee of $10 and members volunteering seed money. This was paramount to getting started and significant as it demonstrated the willingness of the small number of interested people wanting to make it work.   Along with the seed money, we were also supported by the Brunswick Uniting Church who donated $500 to our cause (they had been running a successful food co-op for some years).

I hunted around for a venue, the most difficult aspect of us being able to function, and wrote to the Benalla Uniting Church Council. Not only were they happy for us to use the old kindergarten hall, but also allowed us to store our products permanently, whilst only having to pay hire costs on an hourly basis. We are most grateful to the Uniting Church for the ongoing use of this space.

Our initial set-up was pretty basic with an array of coloured recycled food tubs we collected from hotels and restaurants, and Peter and I sourced old rickety wardrobes in which to store our products.
 
Finally we were up and running as an 'action group' under the banner of the Benalla Sustainable Future Group.

We had our first open day on 3rd May in 2011 and although we only had 12 members, we felt we were off to a good start and were able to purchase 28 different products. We opened one morning per month.
 
In 2012, we were successful in receiving some funding from Benalla Rural City Community Grants Program, and able to purchase three lockable metal cupboards and a computer. In no time our membership expanded and the number of products increased.  With the small mark up to cover costs, we were soon able to repay members for their investment of seed money.

We believed it was important to keep the prices affordable, whilst offering highest quality of products.
 
In 2013 The Food Co-op was featured on Channel 10 Shepparton Weeknights TV program. 
                                                                                                                                                                     
From our small working group, we established a committee of six members in October 2014, with Sonia Bourke and Judy Schwarzman coming on board.     
                                                                
By 2015, with membership increasing to 70, a demand for more products and food sales doubling, we extended the open days from one day per month to two. Two of the original committee members resigned (Kathy and Lynne) and so we were back to a committee of four plus Peter Holmes as BSFG/food co-op treasurer.  
 
We celebrated five years of operation in 2016. As time went on, other interested members joined the committee - Loren Atkinson (2016), followed by Rhona Rose, Rosalie Thomas and Julie McPherson.

For this meeting we are screening the Bob Brown Foundation film Forest Defenders. 

Forest Defenders was filmed at the Bob Brown Foundation takayna / Tarkine blockade over the summer of 2019-20 in North-West Tasmania, during an intense period of logging and resistance by brave forest activists.

The film explores the day-to-day lives of those on the front line of the battle to save this ancient tract of cool-temperate rain forest, the largest in the world, from logging and mining.  Link to Forest Defenders trailer, https://youtu.be/VvCvgT6Epoo.

We are pleased to have Bert Lobert from Our Strathbogie Forest attending and we look forward to his update on the Strathbogie Forest.

This meeting will commence with the film, followed by our speaker and tea/coffee.  People may then leave the meeting before any meeting business.

It is important that you RSVP to attend the meeting for both Covid numbers and to determine where we screen the film at the Benalla Uniting Church.

RSVP: SMS 0438625638, Email bsfginc@gmail.com.

Please return to this article for any updates on meeting details.

Have you heard about the Federation Square Sustainable Eco Home, a project inspired by Joost Bakker and involving many sustainability heroes, including  Martin Nichol and his team from Benalla's 'Sunreal'. 

The photo above was included in an excellent article by Poppy Johnston titled 'Joost Bakker's new self sustaining. zero waste Federation Square Home is Good Enough to Eat'.   

Interested in finding out more? Check out

• Joost Bakker's website's press page - https://www.futurefoodsystem.com/press  - and the many interviews with Joost on YouTube
• this short trailer for the project at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hozUDZuSZAs
• the Future Food System live streams recording the development of the project - these are available on You Tube - here's a list with links in case you want to binge watch! 
• the latest information on the web is that the project remains open until June, tours cost $10.  If you have $390 to splurge, you can dine at the intimate restaurant which produces spellbinding meals made from the Future Food Systems Eco Home's gardens, fish tanks and more.

Future Food Systems Federation Square Eco Home Livestream series: 
Livestream #1:  Joost Bakker and Jeremy McLeod - Future Food System
Livestream #2:  Hospo hangout with Matt and Jo
Livestream #3:  Meet innovator Dr. Matt Dingle 
Livestream #4:  John Ford - microbiologist and mushroom grower       
Livestream #5:  Biochar pioneer Russell Burnett    
Livestream #6:  Walk Through Future Food System with Joost and Jeremy (A good one to watch when you don't have time to watch the others) 
Livestream #7:  Spotlight ingredient: Tiger nuts  
Livestream #8:  Update from Joost, Matt and Jo
Livestream #9:  Joost and Jeremy on Timber  
Livestream #10  Aquaponics

Bev Lee

Do you enjoy getting out in the garden? Do you love growing vegetables? Are you tired of missing out on your favourite packets of seed?

This workshop, on Sunday 26 March from 2 - 4, led by local seed saving expert Kate Holmes, will equip you with all the knowledge you need to get started and grow your freedom through seed saving.

Based on Kate's personal experience and research over the past decade, the information shared will include:
* Why save seed?
* Getting started - what, where & when to grow?
* Keeping it pure - what's in a name? Pollination isolation
* Bringing in the harvest
* Storing your Seed.
Workshop notes will be included and you may even get to take home a packet of seeds to grow.
---
Fees:- $45 BP/PcV members ($40 conc), $65 Public ($60 conc).
Places are limited, please send an email to info@BenallaPermaculture.org to secure your place.
Tea/Coffee/Biscuits provided.
COVID safety precautions apply, please bring your mask.
---
Please be aware, there is a known feral bee colony on the property a distance away from the workshop area. While the chances of being stung are next to zero, we are advising you just in case you are allergic to bee stings, so you may decide whether or not to attend. 

Warwick Bone and Benalla Permaculture

Image Source:  'Understanding Groundwater' DELWP Website

'Groundwater is an important part of Victoria's water supply.  It is critical to creating secure water supplies to meet growing food and fibre production, for drinking water supplies and to protect environmental values' (DELWP)

Check out DELWP's website for information on Groundwater.  There's an interactive map - click on Benalla to retrieve information about acquifers in the Goulburn Broken Catchment.  You can download the information by clicking the button below.  It's worth continuing on to page 2 which explains the report and provides information about acquifers and ground water. 

Kathryn McQualter
Convenor, Benalla Local Food Network 
An Action Group of BSFG