Cultivating the future: Youth take charge in transforming local food systems

TWO future food industry leaders have spent the past 12 months employed at the Common Ground Project (CGP), a social enterprise and regenerative farm based in Freshwater Creek, as part of a government initiative.

Libby Doughty, 23, and Isobel Bobbera, 26, were two of 12 individuals selected to be part of VicHealth’s Youth Food Systems Leadership and Employment Program.

The training initiative launched last year with the aim of educating young people about the food sector and empowering them with the tools and knowledge to help transform local food systems.

The young people were employed at one of Victorian seven food hubs, where they gained hands-on experience, contributing to the growing, harvesting and distribution of food.

 

Ms Bobbera said her passion for sustainable food practices came from her previous retail experience where she saw firsthand how much food waste is generated on a daily basis.

“It was in that moment that I realised there was a real disconnection between us and our food.

“Our food system is so broken and it’s failing a lot of us and our communities and the environment as well.”

Both said their time at CGP has enabled them to explore new areas of interest including digital communications and implement new initiatives within the enterprise to improve its waste management and enhance the accessibility of its produce.

Ms Doughty said the program had given her the opportunity to expand her efforts into education, which she “never thought was going to be a part of [her] life”.

“I don’t think I understood that that was accessible to me, but CGP and the food hubs really helped me blossom into that area.”

Both praised the leadership program, the support they had received from VicHealth throughout and the connectivity fostered between the food hubs involved in the initiative.

“VicHealth’s focus has been beautifully community driven, but also they really invest in the individual in the system,” Ms Doughty said.

“It’s been really wonderful to be able to engage with all the other regional food hubs because we’re all very different, so just learning from each other and collaborating on different challenges and opportunities,” Ms Bobbera said.

“I think it’s just made the whole experience that much more meaningful and exciting.

“It would be great to see more roles and opportunities like this because I think there’s such a massive need for it and not just in urban city areas, the regions are really important too.”

 

Dheepa Jeyapalan, VicHealth healthy and sustainable food systems manager, said it had become common for young people to face challenges in securing “meaningful, fulfilling and culturally safe employment” in the food sector.

“Young people have told us that they care about food, where it comes from and how it is linked to our health, wellbeing, culture and the environment.

“That’s where the Youth Food Systems Leadership and Employment program comes in.

“The inspiring group of 12 young people who completed the program in 2023 are proof of the transformation that’s possible when young people are given the support and safe spaces to learn, grow and thrive.”

The leadership program will continue this year with a new group of young participants.

For more information, head to commongroundproject.com.au