We honour and respect the rightful traditional custodians of the land we grow on, the Darug and Gundungurra people.

 

Farm It Forward (FIF) is a local food growing charity connecting local residents and young people who are passionate about growing food. 

Operating over the last 5 years in the Blue Mountains of NSW, FIF fosters youth and community mental health, provides learning opportunities in regenerative food growing and socio-environmental care, while tackling social isolation and increasing community wellbeing. 

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Our grow tunnel at Katoomba Highschool is a hands-on space for environmental education and action research in the area of Design for Sustainability Transitions guided by Emmanuela Prigioni (phD). Our research involves working with local First Nations people, community groups and our local high school to provide transformative learning programs for young people in the areas of regenerative food growing practices, environmental care, First Nations-led bush regeneration, and finding ways to practically apply and embed the concept of caring for Country in our every day lives.

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We do this through:

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• In school high-school regenerative food growing programs and nature-based creative mental health programs

• Regenerating degraded, unused land

• Selling affordable, fresh produce grown regeneratively to the wider community during the growing season

• Running weekly volunteer and engagement programs

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After carefully observing census data and council surveys, FiF founders designed this initiative as a means to address several socio-environmental issues at once.

 

These were:

* A difficulty for young people to access land to learn about and practise sustainable and regenerative land management 

* An increased risk of social isolation in young people, older residents over 60, young families with small children and LGBTIQ+ people

*  increased feelings of helplessness and despair in young people (the Blue Mountains face increased disaster risk due to the effects of climate change on the natural environment)

* Increasing pressure for older residents to leave their homes and go into aged care despite being in good health and wishing to age in place

 

Mission: 

To grow nutrient dense, accessible, regeneratively grown food for the local community on land privately owned by residents at risk of social isolation, raising awareness on environmentally restorative food growing practices and the mental health benefits of growing a food garden. Social outreach is a big part of what FIF does through weekly community working bees and high school programs. FIF empowers people to create local food systems fostering the natural environment, intergenerational contact, resilience and nurturing our physical and mental health into the future. 

 

How Farm it Forward Works: 

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In exchange for allowing their land to be used for market gardening, residents: 

 

* Receive their weekly needs in regeneratively grown veggies, grown on their own property or on other land in the project, for free. Are visited weekly by community groups, paid young people and volunteers to establish and maintain regenerative food production, and enhance cross-generational connections. 

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* Have the opportunity to be a part of a community of socio-environmental care through social media, gatherings and visitation to local food growing plots operated by Farm it Forward . The regular help groups allow for new aspiring growers to identify their passion and use the program as inspiration pathway. 

All excess produce is sold locally through a farm gate system online and in person and 100 % of the funds go towards employing young people to grow food and facilitate community outreach sessions. 

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Farm It Forward has provided opportunities for community members to be actively engaged in creating community connectedness, greater fresh food accessibility and caring for the environment including improving soil water holding capacity, and sequestering carbon from the atmosphere for use in healthy soil. This in turn leads to a great sense of empowerment, confidence and hope for the future. 

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Farm it Forward is an innovative model putting the principles of earth-friendly food growing  into practice in an urban community. In a few short years, they have contributed to soil  restoration, achieved financial stability, and meaningful social outcomes. FIF is providing inspiration as well as a practical model for other communities to observe and adapt to their own context. 

They hold regular webinars explaining the process of setting up a Farm It Forward chapter, and have helped several similar initiatives in other areas establish themselves.

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