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Corryong Acres and Acres market garden secures food supply
Words:  Camille SmithProducer: Simone Kealy
After living through the 2019-2020 bushfires then Covid, Corryong locals could see a food security crisis looming. So they started to grow their own.
Josh Collings, who lost his Cudgewa property in the fires, started the co-operative market, Acres and Acres, where locals could grow vegetables for food and to earn an income.
He hatched the co-op plan with gardeners from his vegie-swap group to maintain food security for the isolated region, and make it easier for people to start farming with little financial outlay.
The food supply chain was strained during the bushfire crisis and Covid made it worse.On a mission to make sure the town could feed itself, Josh ramped up the scale of Acres and Acres.
It now includes three garden sites, each about 0.4ha. The co-op's 20 cultivators grow everything from tomatoes to melons and pumpkins.
The produce is sold direct to the community. Grants have funded much of the project and experienced growers from outside the region provide advice and infrastructure.
Acres and Acres is just one example of successful community-led recovery efforts in bushfire-hit towns.However, there is still a lot more work to do.
In Towong Shire, the fires destroyed 82 dwellings, including Josh’s home.In Mallacoota, 130 homes were destroyed.
“My house still isn’t built,” Josh said. “That is pretty distressing. There are lots of people whose houses aren’t built; they are not even close.”
Mallacoota and District Recovery Association (MADRA) chair Paul Preston said just 13 or 14 homes had received final inspection certificates in the past two years.Social housing was now top of the MADRA agenda, with hopes a solution can be achieved in 2022.
As Josh and others wait, they have other challenges to deal with. Managing crops, maintaining soil health and keeping pests at bay is no small feat.“You deal with every problem. This is no walk in the park,” Josh said.
																											

Original URL: https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/web-stories/free/the-weekly-times/how-an-isolated-town-solved-its-food-security-problem