volunteering

Peter is one of our wonderful volunteer committee members and president of Permaculture Yarra Valley. We asked Peter to tell us a little bit about himself and where food connections fit for him.

“My take on ‘food connections’ is knowing all about the food system and making sure my food is not only healthy for me but healthy for the environment as well.

Being healthy for me means it is fresh, minimally processed, nutritious, free of impurities and additives and not genetically modified. Being healthy for the environment means minimum food miles (or kilometres), sustainably grown, ethically harvested with minimal waste by-products.

Minimum food miles implies eating locally grown seasonal produce which supports local producers such as market gardeners and growers. The local community and economy benefit from keeping my spending local.  Ideally it includes growing as much of my food myself, but this is not always possible.

Sustainably grown using organic practices that enhance the soil thereby improving the nutrient content of the food.

Ethically harvested includes protecting diversity in the ecosystem and ensuring workers are treated fairly and compensated appropriately for their labour.

Minimal waste by-products means ensuring there is less spoilage in the whole food cycle and includes returning surplus back to the soil to feed future crops.

For years, my wife and I have been growing as much of our food as possible when about 5 years ago, she came across the term “Permaculture”. Upon further reading we found it resonated with our goals of being as environmentally sustainable as possible.”

And, so started Peter’s journey with the Permaculture. Peter can be contacted via the PYV website.