Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

Indi is one of the food bowls of our nation, and today I want to acknowledge two of the community initiatives in Indi that promote sustainable healthy food. Sustainable King Valley is a small but active food hub operating out of the local and loved Cheshunt hall. The food hub aims to reduce food miles and packaging by providing access to quality bulk goods and cleaning products. It also connects people with excess produce to share that produce with other people. Well done to Kate Walsh and Jess Young and their committed team of volunteers who lead this fabulous program.

Sustainable King Valley recently connected with Josh Collins and the team from the social enterprise cooperative Acres and Acres in the Upper Murray. Acres and Acres's mission is to support a network of growers across the region to build resilience through sustainable farming practices and enable communities to grow their own food.

Recently, I met with Dr Sandro Demaio, CEO of VicHealth. He was passionate about VicHealth's investment in Acres and Acres as part of their Future Healthy initiative. VicHealth have funded two full-time traineeships for young people to help educate and mobilise their communities and transform our local food systems in the Upper Murray.

Sustainable food production is vital for all our futures. I am proud that community-driven initiatives such as these are enabling positive and sustainable food future in Indi.