2015 BANKSIA SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES AWARD

Winner

Grown & Gathered – Empowering Community Through Sustainable Food Systems and a Bright Future
Grown & Gathered, VIC

Through their business Grown and Gathered, Matt and Lentil Purbrick are providing innovative and multifaceted community programs. Matt and Lentil have taken it upon themselves to educate and demonstrate to people from all walks of life what it really means to eat, farm and live sustainably by connecting with their food community.

On their farm in Tabilk, Victoria, they grow over 500 different varieties of heirloom and wild fruits, vegetables and flowers; raise animals; hunt; forage wild food; make natural preserves, ferments and food – all without generating waste. They deliver their produce, returning with food waste from restaurants and customers to compost and return to the land – which they call closed-loop farming.

Matt and Lentil teach concepts of near-lost pre-industrial principles and waste-free living proven environmentally sound for thousands of years. Techniques they have researched extensively, trialled and tested. Their passion and dedication to sustainability, influences not only today’s change making chefs and media but just as equally, everyday people.

They utilise a multifaceted education program to empower the community, including: on-farm internships, face-to-face workshops, off-site consultations; seasonal charts; speaking events; magazine columns; a blog and extensive plans to expand their education in the future.

Overall, Matt and Lentil believe that sustainability begins with the individual. Their education programs have directly engaged approximately 88, 464 people since the project began in August 2013 and they will continue to reduce waste, promote sustainable and regenerative farming practices, connect community and inspire better food systems long into the future.