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The Big Give is an event supporting central Victorian community groups. The Bendigo Advertiser will be profiling several of the registered campaigns each week until the initiative ends with a 24-hour giving day on September 1.
Portable gardens filled with fresh foods could soon pop up around Bendigo.
The Bendigo Regional Food Alliance is fundraising to create 12 pop-up wicking beds, which would be used to grow edible plants the community can then use.
Alliance chair Jennifer Alden said the wicking beds would be placed in often frequented parts of Bendigo.
“How good would it be to take some fresh herbs home from the train station?” Dr Alden said.
“It’s another way of engaging the community and getting people excited about food production”
The food alliance has launched a Big Give campaign to support the project, estimating the cost of the 12 wicking beds at $3000.
Dr Alden was hopeful the idea would grow beyond a dozen portable edible gardens.
“Our vision is to get the community interested in growing fresh food,” she said.
“What we eat is affecting our health and our waistlines.”
Education and video resources are planned for the future, to be delivered via an online community food information portal.
“I suspect this will generate interest into a bigger project where more people will be interested in using this type of approach to growing food, especially if can incorporate the sustainability features,” Dr Alden said.
The wicking beds will be constructed from recycled materials and filled with composted soil.
Dr Alden said the idea was inspired by Go and Grow Gardens, a social enterprise launched in November 2014.
“This is the Bendigo Regional Food Alliance’s first project and we have a great cross-section of different community organisations, groups and people involved so far,” she said.
“As a first effort, it is looking really positive.”
“Grow, source, cook and share” is the alliance’s mantra.
It was formally incorporated earlier this year, with roots in the City of Greater Bendigo Healthy Together Bendigo project.
“We know that Greater Bendigo has a high level of obesity and the key to tackling obesity is to create better access to healthy, fresh and affordable food,” Bendigo Mayor Rod Fyffe said said at the alliance’s launch on June 9.
“There are lots of great local producers, community gardens and programs happening around Greater Bendigo and the alliance will help coordinate these efforts plus support new initiatives.”
The ‘Edible oasis in a box’ campaign and the more than 60 others involved in the Big Give expire on September 1.
The initiative culminates in a community giving day, when causes stand to win a share in a $30,000 prize pool.