Festival to highlight local growers

A MONTH-long celebration of produce from the Central Highlands Region is happening this February.

An initiative by Commerce Ballarat, Forage and Feast will involve events at Ballarat venues that aim to highlight local growers and producers.

The calendar of events will kick off with next month’s Biznet Breakfast on Thursday 1 February.

The breakfast will also mark the official launch of the Central Highlands Growers and Producers website which was acquired by Commerce Ballarat last year.

Jason Crosbie, founder of the Mushroom Connection is one of the local growers involved in the initiative.

He is collaborating with Lydiard Street restaurant Peasant to create an evening of mushrooms and wine on Thursday 29 February.

“I am working with Peasant the restaurant and will be doing an event with those guys and supplying them with fresh produce,” he said.

“We also may be doing some sort of mushroom grow kit for whoever attends.”

Mr Crosbie said he wanted to be part of the initiative to raise awareness about the versatility of mushrooms.

“The plant-based food movement is a very big passion of mine and I think one of the best replacements for meat is mushrooms,” he said.

“I want to get mushrooms into more plates and get people to taste more varieties.”

Tatiana Collier, project lead, said the event is about sharing what the region has to offer.

“We wanted a way to relaunch the website now it’s in the full management of Commerce Ballarat but also highlight the fantastic produce and really bring value to the producers on the website and the whole Central Highlands region,” she said.

“It shows them what is on their doorstep, which is beautiful, high quality, locally grown produce.”

Ms Collier said there are already plans being made for future years which could include events being held all around the Central Highlands region.

“We had some questions about why it’s only happening in Ballarat and the answer to that is it’s out first event,” she said.

“But we’d love for Forage and Feast 2025 to become a trail through the Central Highlands.”

To see the full program of events visit centralhighlandsgrowers.com.au.