Young Australian farmer Oscar Gordon has packed a lot of living into his 23 years!   A 5th generation farmer, Oscar grew up on family land near Bungendore NSW before studying a Diploma of Regenerative Agriculture in Lismore. From an early age, he’s been immersed in farming that also cares for nature. He’s done farming stints with Tony Mott on regenerative farm “Greenhills” in Moss Vale. He’s been a ringer on a commercial station up on the Gulf. And he’s helped his family establish a Wood Gums conservation project on their farm. This year he travelled to Zimbabwe to the African Centre for Holistic Management. Its founder, Alan Savory is a pioneer of regenerative agriculture and a personal hero to Oscar.The REGENERATE Conference Recently Oscar returned the US where he travelled on a scholarship from the Macdoch Foundation to participate in the annual REGENERATE Conference hosted by Quivira Coalition.  REGENERATE is a 3-day gathering of farmers, educators, First Nations stewards and other land managers united by an interest in regenerative approaches. It’s held in a regenerative agriculture hot spot each year – this time in Denver, Colorado.   A key part of the program is its appointment of 10-15 young people as…

In 2023, the Australian Generate Fellowship (fka HERD) was established to help the next generation of farmers, graziers and land stewards build a diverse and resilient network dedicated to regenerative practices. In its inaugural year, the program provided food systems specialist and permaculture teacher, Guy Ritani, with a full scholarship to attend the REGENERATE Conference in Santa Fe, California.   The annual event brings together farmers, conservationists, land stewards, scientists and thought leaders from across the world to exchange knowledge, foster community and explore innovative practices. The conference provided Guy the opportunity to learn from leaders in the field, forge meaningful relationships with peers and mentors across the USA, find support for their work and bring fresh perspectives on the future of agriculture back to Australia. “I learnt so much during my time at REGENERATE. What really struck me was hearing such a range of amazing stories about resilience and innovation.” Guy have been engaged in innovative regenerative practices both ecologically & socially across the Asia-Pacific region for years. Their work is centered around building relationships, networks and systems to achieve climate justice, bio-regional food security and culturally appropriate and sovereign food systems. Guy co-founded PermaQueer, an organisation supporting Queer,…

The Noongar Land Enterprise (NLE) Group is Australia’s only Aboriginal led grower group. First formed in 2014 the group started when a number of Aboriginal organisations on Noongar boodja (country) reacquired their land.   The landholders came together to share knowledge and learnings so they could help support each other to overcome common barriers and build businesses which were both culturally appropriate and commercially sustainable. Now a decade later, NLE is fostering success for its members in everything from livestock, building natural assets, first nations agriculture, regenerative agriculture, land reforestation conservation and agricultural tourism. Bush food production, honey, sandalwood, cultural tourism, social services and other mainstream agriculture and horticulture enterprises are all part of either NLE’s or NLE member enterprises that are being developed.   "Well over 50% of Australia's land mass now is either owned or managed by Aboriginal people but currently the productivity of that land is punching well below its weight due to a range of constraints. Our aim is to build a pathway to increase the productivity of Aboriginal owned and managed land right across Australia." A key turning point for the organisation came in 2020 when funding from the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation and…

Two decades ago, renowned Australian cook and food writer Stephanie Alexander set up the Kitchen Garden Foundation to support children and young people to form positive food habits for life. Recognising the concerning reality that so few children and young people were consuming the recommended amount of vegetables, Stephanie embarked on a mission to change this narrative. The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation empowers educators across Australia with the inspiration, resources and support necessary to deliver pleasurable food education to children and young people across Australia via the Kitchen Garden Program. Starting with just one kitchen garden program in 2004 at Collingwood College in Melbourne, the Foundation has grown in leaps and bounds and now supports more than 1000 schools and early childhood settings across Australia to run kitchen garden programs. Over 20 years, the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation has facilitated:Everyone who works with and volunteers for the organisation has a genuine passion for “pleasurable food education” which essentially inspires good food habits in children and young people through hands on activities using fresh, delicious, seasonal produce. It helps children to develop a deeper connection to produce, celebrate the joy of fresh food and the act of coming together…

In 2015 Co-founder of TIACS, Daniel Allen was working as a carpenter when he received a life-changing phone call with the devastating news his best mate had taken his own life. This tragedy forged an unbreakable bond between Daniel and his then apprentice Ed Ross, as he leant on him for support through this tough time. The way Daniel and Ed supported each other and began speaking openly about their mental health would eventually spark an idea which led to the creation of TIACS. TIACS is a not-for-profit organization named after the phrase ‘This is a conversation starter’ which offers a free phone and text counselling service to Australia’s blue-collar community. TIACS was only made possible by Daniel and Ed’s first business venture, Trademutt, the funky high-vis tradie workwear emblazoned with the phrase ‘This is a conversation starter’ which was designed to grab attention and begin discussions about mental health. Trademutt quickly gained traction but its success of also led to questions of where tradies and other blue-collar workers could find further support. In the search for an answer to this question, it became clear to the co-founders that there was a gap in the market for a not-for-profit counselling…

Since 2012, the Open Food Network (OFN) has been building better food systems. A not-for-profit organisation, OFN is an open-source platform that supports ethical, values-based supply chains. It facilitates selling and buying of food for producers and wholesalers, and allows communities of producers to come together to create a virtual farmers’ market. OFN was dreamed up in 2010 by Kirsten Larsen and Serenity Hill. Working in climate and sustainability policy and academic roles at the time, Kirsten and Serenity had a shared interest in food systems and the transformative power of sustainable food production and consumption. United by the realisation that sustainable and innovative food systems had to be built from the ground up, Kirsten and Serenity started OFN with a focus on transparent and short supply chains, and developing the technology needed to enable them. With a commitment to collaboration and being open source, OFN started by building a software platform to connect producers and consumers in a way that enables producers to control their price, and wholesalers to access ethical products. From there, the Open Food Foundation was formed (2012), to support the growth and use of the OFN software which during the COVID-19 pandemic was operational across…