“So, when do we get started?” John, our passionate Avocado grower wants to know after attending our first Farming Together workshop last week at Kandanga Hall. The first workshop out of three introduced the new project team to the 25 attending farmers. A big thank you to everyone that provided us with all the wonderful produce to share for dinner.

The project team is designing and implementing a plan to improve operations, management, and logistics of the co-op. All team members recognise the value of small independent farms and local food systems.
“We all have the common goals of increasing participation, income and a strong community. But to assist the co-op members to achieve these goals, the project team needs input from growers and customers that are the backbone of this co-op. We are looking for any suggestions, feedback and ideas that may help reach these goals” said Linda Hauns, a member of marketing project team.

The attending farmers learnt about the benefit they gain from being a member of our Co-op. Not only are they able to supply larger volumes but they also save time and money on marketing and product distribution.

A great success of the workshop was the evaluation of videos promoting a region and an individual farmer. The valuable feedback is used to create our very own videos introducing the Mary Valley as well as our individual members. Through this, every farmer will get the opportunity to TELL THEIR STORY, which is very important to us.
Consumers are also very interested and conscious about where their food comes from, and how and by whom it was grown.

Another highlight of the workshop was a discussion about the expectations between the co-op and our members. It is important to understand our own values when working together to achieve collective goals.

The next workshop will be run by John Whiteoak this Saturday October 7 at Kandanga Hall. It will focus on recognising the inherent values underlying the co-op. The third workshop will take place on Monday October 9. Ian Ploughman, a psychologist will talk about the importance and development of community.

The project team members are looking forward to seeing old and new faces at the next workshops to have a chat over another shared meal and cold beer.