Sunday 5 March 2017

Crowd Harvest: Tomatoes for Easter

Individual excess = Community abundance

Anyone growing tomatoes in their own backyard inevitably produces excess - more than one family can consume. At the end of summertime, gardeners are overwhelmed with tomatoes!
Melbourne food relief providers are currently met with higher demand for emergency assistance than they can manage.
If you would like to help, please take any excess home grown tomatoes to one of the following NFPs at the listed opening times. From the CBD to Epping, from Footscray to Rowville, there will be a place near you ready to receive your excess tomatoes. The NFPs will either distribute fresh or preserve the tomatoes as Passata, Chutney, Sundried or Dell'Olio, and then distribute through their food relief programs.
Please help share the news by forwarding this email to a friend, or pressing 'like' and 'sharing' on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1829774750618220/
A Facebook Group "Tiny Trowellers" has been created. Please join the conversation at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1283951395005787/

DIVRS & Darebin Fruit Squad
Urban Food Program
285 High Street
Preston 3072
Monday to Friday
9.30am - 3.00pm
http://www.divrs.org.au/#divrs
http://www.darebinfruitsquad.org/

Liberty Church
25 Miller St,
Epping VIC 3076
Fridays 9.30 - 12.00 Noon
http://liberty.org.au/contact/

ASRC Foodbank
Level 1,
214 - 218 Nicholson St
Footscray VIC 3011
Monday to Friday
10.00 am - 5.00 pm.
https://www.asrc.org.au/
ASRC are happy to accept most home grown produce.
Food seeds are welcomed!

Rowville Community Kitchen
Rowville Community Centre
40 Fulham Road,
Rowville VIC 3178
Monday to Friday
10.00am - 3.00pm
http://rowvillecommunitykitchen.com.au/

Salvation Army,
Project 614
69 Bourke St,
Melbourne VIC 3000
Monday to Friday
8:00 am - 4:30 pm.
http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/melbourne614

STREAT
66 Cromwell Street,
Collingwood, VIC 3066
Monday to Sunday
8.00am - 3.00pm
www.streat.com.au

The Green Cafe
5 St. Columbs Street
Hawthorn VIC 3122
Monday to Sunday
8.00am - 3.00pm.
http://www.stcolumbs.org.au/Cafe

Aims and objectives

Tiny Trowel aims to harness the power and generosity of the wider community - 'The Crowd' - through:

1. Crowd Harvests - providing avenues through which home produce gardeners might donate fresh fruit, herbs and vegetables to food relief providers

2. Crowd Sharing- developing faith community projects to cultivate their land, enriching their food relief programs

3. Crowd Farming - inviting the community to donate food plants to farm public land

4. Crowd Talks - talks to community members to explore ways to raise their own home produce gardens

Compelled to Action

The ABS provides overwhelming data on Australia's homelessness issues, and connected to this is food insecurity.

Food Relief Providers are reporting that the increasing numbers of those presenting for assistance is increasing to the point where they can no longer meet the need.

On Census night 2011 there were 105,237 people experiencing homelessness, with 45,813 or 44% of these women. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census Data (2011)

Domestic and family violence/Homelessness/Food Insecurity

Women are more likely to be victims of domestic and family violence, and because of this threat to their safety women (and children) are forced, or make decisions to leave their home. Over a third of women over the age of 15 have experienced physical, psychological and/or sexual violence at the hands of a current or former partner. Mouzos & Makkai, 2004,International Violence Against Women Survey

Domestic and family violence is the number one reason why people present to specialist homeless services, with 55% of female clients citing this reason and a total of 25% of all clients.www.homelessnessaustralia.org.au

Call to Action