Celebrating and giving thanks to the good earth, our farmers and the cycle of the seasons

The next annual Autumn Harvest Festival will take place on Saturday 31 March 2012 at CERES Community Environment Park.

Across our ten acre site there will be a range of activities and events that celebrate our community, our environment and our sustainable food systems.

CERES will also host a Harvest Festival Market, proving local people and businesses with an affordable, ethical and friendly way of promoting their produce and products within the village atmosphere of CERES.

Would you like to take part?

We are looking for stall holders who are:

• Businesses who support or work within sustainable food systems in Australia
• Groups or businesses who work more broadly within the values of community, environment and sustainability
• Local artisans who produce handmade goods
• Second-hand sellers
• Other not-for-profit community organisations.

We ask that fresh fruit and vegetables are not sold on individual stalls and are instead sold through our existing organic market and Meet-the-Farmer circle.

If you are interested in taking part in the Meet-the-Farmer circle, please contact Market Manager Kate Anderson on 9389 0123 or market@ceres.org.au.

Why you should get involved?

A stall at the CERES 2012 Autumn Harvest Festival provides an excellent opportunity to reach the CERES community. We’re anticipating our biggest turn-out ever this year, with the whole site being used for this event. We will be promoting and advertising the festival in the media, online and directly to CERES members and supporters. The entire CERES site will be open to the public with free entry and some of the features of the day we will be promoting include:

• Free live music
• Multicultural food stalls and tastings
• Large farmers’ market and meet-the-farmer events
• Green technology demonstrations
• Artists market
• Free talks and demonstrations on food production and cooking, preserving, plant propagation and a range of other environmental topics.
• Kids’ activities
• Harvest banquet with special guest Matthew Evans, the host of Gourmet Farmer on SBS.

For more information about pricing, terms & conditions, please download this pdf: Autumn_Harvest-Festival_stallholder_callout_2012

Or visit the main ceres.org.au website.

Food Connect & CERES Fair Food release a joint media statement calling the ACCC to better regulate the supermarket duopoly in Australia for the good health of our local food systems.

While the ‘big two’ continue to sting consumers with price increases twice that of core inflation rates, farming families are being driven from their noble and invaluable profession in droves: a consequence of unfair wholesale prices offered by Coles and Woolworths. Despite ACCC claims to the contrary, it seems the duopoly are boosting their profit margins during these hard times – using undue market influence to extort eaters & growers alike?

MediaRelease_LocalPlayersCallforFairFood

It’s for reasons such as this that we do what we do.

We believe in making healthy, eco-friendly & ethical food easy, affordable and convenient to buy – so we can all be responsible consumers!

As a new arrival to Melbourne, I am also a recent convert to seasonal eating, ethical food and hence the Fair Food organic food box delivery scheme. And yes, I have noticed that organic produce does go off more rapidly than the chemical-rich, irradiated varieties I use to pick up from the large retail monopolies. In discussing this issue with my colleagues, I realised that educating myself, and hopefully providing some useful tips on keeping your F&V fresh was going to be far less resource intensive than individually bagging carrots into plastic for you. I exaggerate about the individual part, but the point still stands!

We want to provide you with the best quality organic produce in Melbourne, but with the least amount of impact on the environment. We don’t think you’d appreciate it if we went around cryovacing everything. So the following might help bridge the divide, make us happy eaters, without upsetting the best of all our eco inclinations.

What Fair Food does to keep your C’s crisp and P’s plump?

CERES Fair Food has a low food mileage policy, meaning we source organic produce exclusively from local suppliers. This makes our organic fruit & veg boxes fresher because local seasonal food travels the least, from seed to plate.

We pack your organic fruit and vegetables the morning we deliver to your Hosts, ensuring your food box has spent as little time as possible waiting for you.

We pack  produce at different stages of maturity, with as much variety as possible, so the contents of your organic food box are ready to eat at different times, minimising loss and wasteage.

What you can do to ensure your ethically sourced grub remains good until the next delivery day?

Get them into the cold (but not too cold): make sure you pick them up on time and get them into the fridge as soon as possible. Ensure your fridge is not turned up too high because this can “cold burn” them. Place your organic F&V into the crisper drawer, which is designed to keep moisture in and air out. This wards off “droop,” keeping your celeries, capsicums, lettuces nice and perky!

Prioritize: eat the fruit and veg most likely to go off first. Items that are ripe and ready, lettuce & leafy greens.

Keep moisture in & oxygen out: place vulnerable items into recyclable airtight containers. This is particularly important for items such as carrots, which may turn black or go “rubbery” if you don’t protect the more fragile of the otherwise robust root veg family.

Preserve: Got some stone fruit about to turn en masse into liquified goo? It’s amazing what cutting them up, sprinkling them with a little sugar and squeezing some citrus on them will do. A scoop of the mix with yoghurt makes for a very easy & healthy afternoon snack. Plus it will give your tastebuds an extra buzz as the fruit mascerates and naturally sweetens.

If you got herbs this week, put them in some water. Or if you know you’re not going to get to them in time, consider freeze drying your chives, oven drying your basil, tarragon, lemon balm & mints, or simply air drying the sturdier varieties such as sage, thyme, dill, bay leaves, oregano, rosemary and marjoram. You can even steep them in oil for a great way to infuse your cooking long-term. Instructions are everywhere on the web. Here’s one post on Wiki How.

Pre-serve… slowly: A slow cooker is an amazing invention. You dump a bunch of vegetables with stock, salt and pepper and some herbs, set the timer and come home to the best cooked stew of your life. I make large scale curries like this, particularly in winter, when there is a natural glut of root veggies and onions. Not only do I not have to cook after a long day at work, but these seasonal vegetables are great for freezing, as they maintain their structural integrity and flavour. So not only can I get away with not cooking during the working week, this one is a great trick for preserving the contents of my organic fruit & veggie box for when I need it.

Any nifty tricks up your sleeve? We’d love to hear them.

The following public holidays will affect deliveries

Australia Day – Thurs 26th Jan – NO DELIVERIES
Melbourne Cup – Tues 6th Nov – DELIVERY DATE CHANGED TO WEDS 7th
Christmas – Tues 25th & Thurs 27th Dec – NO DELIVERIES
New Year’s Day 2013 – Tues 1st Jan – NO DELIVERIES

You have three options if you’d like to continue receiving awesome, affordable, eco-friendly fruit and vegetable deliveries:

a) Change to an alternate Host before the cut off day for THAT delivery week  and change it back BEFORE the cut off day of the following week (Sundays @ midnight for Tuesday deliveries & Tuesday @ midnight for Thursdays).

You can change your Food Host on your account profile page: https://members.ceresfairfood.org.au/profile

b) Make arrangements to buy in person from the CERES Shop & Market that week. Visit www.ceres.org.au/marketandshop for location details, opening hours and special market day events.

c) Go dumpster diving with alley cats!

Questions & Answers

What happens when you change my Food Host’s delivery day (i.e. for Melbourne Cup)?
No need to change your host if you are happy to pick your order up on the alternative delivery day. The day change happens automatically from our end. Order as per usual if you can pick up on the Weds.
If you cannot pick up on the Weds nor change to a Thurs host, cancel & recreate order for the following week.

What happens if I can’t change Host?
If you don’t change Food Host, our system will automatically cancel any outstanding orders.

What happens if I’ve paid in advance for orders?
Can’t change Food Host but have paid for orders in advance? There’s no need to do anything. That weeks’ order will be automatically cancelled and your account credited for future purchases.

What about standing/repeating orders?
Standing orders will resume the following week when the Food Host reopens.

GOT A QUESTION?
EMAIL INFO@CERESFAIRFOOD.ORG.AU

Hi all,

All Food Hosts normally open on Tuesdays will be closed on Dec 27th due to the public holiday.

The following Tuesday Hosts will be accepting deliveries on Thursday 29th instead. Cut off for orders on Thursdays is Tuesday at midnight. Pick up on Thursday 29th: same time, same place, just a different day.

Hosts taking deliveries Thursday 29th not Tuesday 27th Dec:

And here’s a list of Food Hosts that will not be open at all from xmas to New Years’ Day:

a) If your Food Host is not on these lists, then you’re all good to go on ordering as normal!

b) If you Food Host is on either list, there is a way to continue receiving deliveries during this time. Simply login & temporarily switch to another convenient Food Host from your ‘profile’ page. But make sure you remember to change back the following week.

Read our December Almanac to learn more about where your green waste goes, herb-growing fish, and what treats are in store for the festive season. Merry Christmas & Thank you for supporting the Fair Food Movement!

The November newsletter is out. Check out the return of bananas, Loui our legendary farmer and what’s in the fridge.

CERES Aquaponics from CERES Fair Food on Vimeo.

Over the past few months we have been producing some short videos about our farmers, growers and suppliers. We want to give our members the story behind their food, how and who produced it. We kick things off with a short video all about the CERES Aquaponic system, which is right next door to the Fair Food warehouse here in Northcote. The CERES Aquaponic system was designed and built by Green Technology Designer Stephen Mushin and Biologist Dr Wilson Lennard. Aquaponics is a water efficient method of growing of fish and vegetables (mostly herbs in this case) side-by-side in a closed system. Essentially the nutrient-rich effluent from the fish is put to good use by fertilising the plants and the water is recycled continuously. The Aquaponic system is fully functional and providing most of the beautiful herbs in the Fair Food boxes each week.

We have revised our pick up instructions, please read through and let us know if you have any questions (email us on info@ceresfairfoood.org.au)

THESE ARE IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS PLEASE READ THOROUGHLY

Picking up boxes:

• You can make orders from our online shop at https://members.ceresfairfood.org.au/products

• Cut off for Tuesday & Wednesday delivery is on Sunday 11.59PM. Cut off for Thursday delivery is Tuesday 11.59PM – please check your delivery date when you make an order in the “My Orders” section of the website https://members.ceresfairfood.org.au/orders

• If you make an order you must pick-up your box. If you are unable to pick-up your box please contact your Food Host immediately to arrange an alternative pick-up time (please note that this is entirely up to the Food Host’s discretion).

• When you arrive to pick up your order, you will find a Customer Checksheet (should be on the notice board).

• Please find your name and tick off your box and groceries on this sheet and sign in the space provided.

• The boxes are marked with an abbreviation: SM = Small Mixed, MM = Medium Mixed. This is clearly stated on the Customer Check Sheet, if it is not on here against your name please DO NOT take the box (if you think you have ordered contact us and we will work it out).

• Extra groceries will be in a box marked Extras – please only take what you are certain you have ordered and what appears on the Customer Check Sheet.

• Your selected Food Host has provided the following instructions for picking up your orders:

Managing your account:

• You can change your Food Host, see the payments you have made, update your password and change your SMS/Email reminders at any time by going to your profile on the website. https://members.ceresfairfood.org.au/profile

• You can download invoices, view and delete orders in the “My Orders” section of the website at https://members.ceresfairfood.org.au/orders

Problems:

• Missing order cut off time: If you have missed your order cut off, there is nothing you can do to change this, so please don’t ask our staff.

• Missing boxes or groceries: Our system involves honesty and trust, however occasionally, boxes or groceries go missing or simply never arrive (it may be out of stock or an oversight), if this happens then please contact Fair Food immediately at info@ceresfairfood.org.au and we will arrange a refund.

• Complaints: We provide organic groceries fresh from local farmers.If you have any issues regarding produce please contact us and we will do our best to resolve the issue.

• If you don’t like a particular fruit or vegetable or have excess produce from your own garden you would like to share, why not leave it in the “Swap box” provided at your Food Host.

• You can return your empty boxes, flat-packed, to your Food Host for us to pick up each week

• If you have any problems with your order or feedback about our service please contact us on the details below.

Thank you again for choosing CERES Fair Food.

The CERES Fair Food team

info@ceresfairfood.org.au

(03) 8673 6288

A short video all about CERES Fair Food…