Thursday, April 29, 2010

Food Distribution Network - fresh fruit & veg for people in need

I've just discovered the Food Distribution Network (FDN) - a not-for-profit community organisation that delivers boxes of fresh and inexpensive fruit and vegetables to people in need in the City of Sydney.

The aim is to assist people to remain healthy and live independently at home with the delivery of affordable, nutritious food.

The service is for older people needing assistance, people with disabilities and their carers and people living with HIV.

FDN buy fruit & veg in bulk from Sydney Markets at Flemington twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday. They're taken to Redfern where volunteers pack the boxes, and then staff deliver them.

I think that this is a fabulous idea. Does anyone know of other food services like this?

If you're interested in finding out more, phone them on 9699 1614 , or go to their website: www.fdn.org.au

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Food Security in Australia -a multi-media feature.

Food Security is a hot topic at the moment. The ABC has produced Gene Wars - a multi-media special feature with a focus on biodiversity, gene patents and the future of food production.


The race to find and own all the drought resistant plant genes on the planet: A risk to universal access to food and the end of biodiversity or a solution to the predicted global food crisis?

This special report by the ABC News Online Investigative Unit and ABC Lateline program looks into the future of food production here in Australia and around the world. We talk to the major players in agriculture and science, experts in intellectual property and farmers.


Eleanor Bell and Suzanne Smith reveal a new inquiry is to be launched in the Australian Parliament into the role of patents on plant genes and what it means for Australian agriculture.

Explore this story through the text, video, multimedia, and interactive features of this extensive special.

Meet farmers John and Jan Baxter, see inside the work of the CSIRO, and peek into the future with the Generation Food Challenge - a philanthropic project by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Discover the innovations of the world's largest seed company, Monsanto and watch Australia's intellectual property adversaries debate the merits of the current patent system.

Lateline's Ticky Fullerton presented an in-depth report on patents and whether they represent a threat to farmers and consumers in the future.