A social enterprise that was dreamt up a decade ago is coming to fruition with a market garden in Launceston’s northern suburbs to be funded for five years by the Tasmanian Community Fund (TCF).

The Northern Suburbs Community Centre Inc (NSCC) in Newnham has partnered with the Starting Point Neighbourhood House (SPNH) in Ravenswood to create the Food and Resilience Movement (FaRM).

SPNH Centre Manager Nettie Burr said the concept was developed from a simple question: “What would it take to feed the northern suburbs of Launceston?”

“Through engagement within our northern suburbs communities, we found they wanted to create places for growing, cooking, eating, selling, buying and sharing healthy and sustainable food that is easy to access for everyone,” Nettie said.

“Access to fresh food can be difficult in the northern suburbs, so the FaRM will initially establish two community market gardens in Newnham and Ravenswood that will operate collectively as a social enterprise and address food insecurity and unemployment.

“It will also enable place-based skill development in a working urban farm environment, which will enhance resilience by increasing access to health and wellbeing activities such as gardening and cooking using produce from the gardens.

“Any income made that exceeds operational funding obligations will be used to improve pathways to employment, increase community wellbeing, or decrease food security in the area.”

The FaRM will also host four large community events each year to showcase its produce and encourage more people to get involved.

NSCC General Manager Trish O’Duffy acknowledged the people who played a crucial role in researching the project and putting the funding submission together.

“UTAS Lecturer in Food, Nutrition and Public Health Sandy Murray conducted community forums called ‘Chat and Chew’ as part of her PhD research for the project. Without people like her, this wouldn’t have gotten off the ground,” Trish said.

“The insights we gained from the northern suburbs community about accessing fresh food and creating job training opportunities are at the heart of this project and what it will do for the community in the future.

“We really appreciate the TCF for trusting our long-term vision for this project. It is a gift for the community that will keep giving for generations to come.”

TCF Chairperson Sally Darke said the TCF board was impressed with the research and partnerships developed to deliver the FaRM project.

“Neighbourhood houses are very connected into the needs of their communities and can access support through networks of volunteers and supporters, which we saw as critical part to the FaRM project,” she said.

“The TCF board saw FaRM as a long term solution for the community to address food insecurity and are looking forward to it becoming a sustainable social enterprise by 2027.”

TCF Chair Sally Darke will join SPNH and NSCC staff, volunteers and Sandy Murray from UTAS to celebrate the successful funding application of the FaRM.