Food insecurity is an issue facing lots of Australians with one in seven Australians living below the poverty line. The role FareShare plays is critical in providing nutritious meals for everyday Australians doing it tough.
FareShare operates kitchens in Melbourne and Brisbane, producing over 2.5 million meals annually. Their meals and fresh food supplies reach more than 500,000 people each week through a network of 1,100 charity partners, supporting the elderly, veterans, working families, and others facing hardship.
The Project
In 2023, KS Environmental met with FareShare to provide them the use of their greenfield site in Dingley so they could use it as a urban farm to grow vegetables.
From there the project brought people together from across the trade industry to bring the farm to life.
To develop the right irrigation solution, Isabel, FareShare Garden Program manager worked with Aqua Pro Irrigation and the Reece Irrigation Design team to create an irrigation design that would maximise the growing potential of the farm.
After the design was locked in, Aqua Pro prepped the land removing trees and installing an irrigation system which is accessible through an app.
Next up was creating a space for the vegetables to be washed ahead of going to the FareShare kitchen. KS Enviromental built a large shed to house machinery and create a comfortable pace for volunteers to wash vegetables.
The East Plumbing crew came together to install the drainage systems, a sanitation system, water catchment infrastructure and rainwater tanks.
The urban farm will grow 150,000kg in the first year and will gradually increase production to 300,000kg of vegetables per year over the next five years.
A better world starts with you.
Every donation helps us and our partners on the ground make real change for the people that need it the most. If you’re a qualified tradie, you can join our list of volunteers to be notified when there's a project that needs your expertise. Have a project idea? Apply for a Reece Foundation Grant to help a community here or overseas.
