fleur anderson & kirsty merritt - home harvest festival

Home Harvest Feast

A shared services partnership- Nillumbik Shire and Banyule City Councils.

Celebrates local food and the home grower.

Creates better connectivity through the conversation of food.

Growers donate home grown produce, we collect it and community cooks and students create a two course local seasonal vegetarian meal.

350 to 400 people participants In its fifth year.

• Background• Partnerships• Grower Stories• Evaluation• Lessons Learned• Future Opportunities• How to Hold Your Own Feast

The Story

Background

“The enjoyment of the Home Harvest Feast is it’s a chance to work with the unknown – how much is going to come in and what is going to come in at that time.

Then the kind of innovations and ideas of what we can do with the produce that’s come in - at the same time making it delicious and satisfying as many tastebuds as possible.

Also the chance to just work with a number of volunteers who are just so eager to help and bring their own sets of abilities – some far exceed what I have and then there are others that are eager to learn.”

Duang, Real Food Catering

Partners and Sponsors

Grower’s Stories

Grower’s Stories

Grower’s Stories

Grower’s Feedback

What motivated Growers to participate in the Feast?

Sharing, engaging my daughter in fresh and home grown food and meeting like minded locals

I think it is a great idea to celebrate and share what we have to offer from our gardens or in my case my time asa volunteer.

Getting to be a part of our new local community and meeting like-minded people.

Evaluation : Feast Benefits for Growers?

Evaluation : Feast Benefits for Growers?

Evaluation : Feast Benefits for Growers?

What have we learned?

Connectivity is the main driver for community participation

What have we learned?

Strength of volunteerism and partnerships

What have we learned?

Have confidence in the produce

What have we learned?

A broad reach of benefits for Council, partners and the

community

Future Opportunities?Connecting with a different group of potential growers

through library story times

Want To Have Your Own Feast?

Model is flexible and highly transferable- inner city, middle, peri-urban and regional governmental areas can all participate.

• Connect with existing community networks and partner organisations

• Know you can work in with any budget. Feast of any scale or type from a BYO picnic to a gourmet three course meal!

• Work with local businesses in sponsorship agreements. Explore opportunities for both organisations.

• Be realistic about the woman (or man) hours required to pull it off from the event coordinator to all the volunteers over the weekend of the Feast.

Any questions?

Talk to Us

Kirsty Merritt, Environmental Project Officer, Nillumbik Shire Council

9433 3206 or Kirsty.Merritt@nillumbik.vic.gov.au

Fleur Anderson, Environment Officer, Banyule City Council

9457 9828 or Fleur.Anderson@banyule.vic.gov.au