Councils meet to 'chew over' food plan

ON A PLATE: Working on ways to make food a more sustainable resource are Tony Kohlenberg (centre) with steering committee members (from left) Robert Rosen, Alan Roberts, Ruth Johnstone, Jessica Huxley and Sam Muller.

Northern Rivers/Jay Cronan

ON THE same day the US Administration warned climate change 'is happening now and in your back yard', seven Northern Rivers councils met to nut out a plan to protect the region's food supplies.

Known as the Northern Rivers Food Link Project, its aim is to protect urban communities from the social and environmental impacts of climate change.

“A fundamental element of human existence is food security,” steering committee chairman and Lismore City Council representative Tony Kohlenberg said.

“We are looking at how secure we are as a community in the days of peak oil and climate change.”

He said it was nonsensical that local farmers shipped their goods to Sydney or Brisbane, and then these same goods were sent back for sale in shops on the Northern Rivers.

“How ridiculous is that,” he said of the concept known as 'food miles', or the distance food travels from the farm gate to the dinner plate.

Mr Kohlenberg said there were numerous growers, community groups and farmers' markets in the area that needed support.

The seven councils recently received a $2 million grant from the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change to develop a business plan to look at sustainable practices and linkages in food production, distribution, consumption and waste management.

“This is an amazing and complex project for the whole of the Northern Rivers,” Mr Kohlenberg said.

“We are delighted to be moving into the planning phase of the project. It is the first step in implementing the ideas and the passions of so many people in this area.”

The business plan is expected to be completed by late this year.

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