{"id":107390,"date":"2024-10-25T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=107390"},"modified":"2024-10-23T23:02:33","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T12:02:33","slug":"food-org-future-forged-with-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/food-org-future-forged-with-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"Food org future forged with celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORGANISERS, and volunteers gathered with community at Barkly Square over the weekend to celebrate a decade of battling food insecurity.<\/p>\n

After a week-long birthday program, non-profit community food security sharing and education space Food is Free’s 10th anniversary was rounded out with a big bash on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Taking place throughout much of the day, Food is Free founder and director Lou Ridsdale said it was a monumental day of sharing memories.<\/p>\n

“It’s been a really beautiful thing because everyone’s come for the right reasons and it’s been a really great sharing experience,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Whilst we’ve been reflecting on the past, which is really important, we’ve turned it into a really great idea of what the future’s about to behold.”<\/p>\n

During a presentation inside the Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council’s Welcome Hall, two future developments for Food is Free were announced.<\/p>\n

Plans to launch a $2 million urban food farm at Britannia Reserve were revealed as well as an impending name change to “Grow to Give.”<\/p>\n

Food is Free chair Caire Huntington announced the developments and said they will mark an exciting period of expansion for the non-profit.<\/p>\n

“The urban food farm is the culmination of 10 years of work and the final piece of the puzzle in which we can really start to make a difference,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’ll be three stages. The first stage will be about getting the garden established. The second stage will be where we grow it into a training and facility hub. The final stage will bring it together with a market place and commercial kitchen.<\/p>\n

\"\"
ABC presenter Costa Georgiadis and Food is Free founder Lou Ridsdale introduced attendees of the non-profit’s 10th anniversary celebrations to the site of what is expected to become their Urban Food Farm. Photos: TIM BOTTAMS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

“We think it’ll be a five-year project and we’ll kick off next year.”<\/p>\n

The event began with the official launch of the First Nations Women’s Yarning Garden, a collaborative project between Food is Free and Women’s Health Grampians.<\/p>\n

ABC presenter Costa Georgiadis was special guest for the event, and hosted planting demonstrations throughout Barkly Square.<\/p>\n

“This is an acknowledgement about the fact this is a project that had such humble beginnings and listened to what was needed in the community,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I love to recognise and be part of shining a spotlight on the steps and the milestones of 10 years. A lot of people and a lot of effort has gone into getting it here. For me, these moments are the real moments of calibrating forward.”<\/p>\n

\"\"
The first planting at Britannia Reserve as part of the Urban Food Farm was undertaken shortly after presentations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Food is Free’s name change is meant to signify the organisation’s expansion, and is expected to be adopted formally by the new year.<\/p>\n

The event was preceded throughout last week with a volunteer meet and greet and workshop, a mixed media exhibition, and the launch of the Grow and Thrive Garden created with BRMC.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ORGANISERS, and volunteers gathered with community at Barkly Square over the weekend to celebrate a decade of battling food insecurity. After a week-long birthday program, non-profit community food security sharing and education space Food is Free’s 10th anniversary was rounded out with a big bash on Sunday. Taking place throughout much of the day, Food […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":198,"featured_media":107397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-107390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFood org future forged with celebration - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Food is Free celebrates 10 years of fighting food insecurity with a community bash and announces exciting future plans.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/food-org-future-forged-with-celebration\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Food org future forged with celebration - 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