Transitioning to sustainable and regenerative food production

Enormous opportunities are opening up as we transition from an unsustainable industrial food production and distribution model, to one that regenerates the very soil and land that supports life.

Thankfully and not before time, this topic is receiving increasing amounts of attention.

A rising chorus is now coming from UN agencies on how food security, poverty, gender inequality and climate change can all be addressed by a radical transformation of our agriculture and food system.

• The UN report: Wake up before it’s too late
• The USDA: Soil is a living and life-giving substance we depend on
  
• USDA video promoting soil biology as a key

Here in New Zealand we’re playing our part.

Food Forest Design course

The application window is still open for the first intake of the Food Forest Design course. On Feb 17th the fun begins when a small group of keen learners meet at Koanga Gardens in Hawkes Bay with James Samuel, Jon Foote and Kay Baxter, to begin the first block course of the inaugural Food Forest Design course.

Feb 17th will mark the start of a 19 week course at the conclusion of which the first group of qualified Food Forest designers will emerge, equipped with design, implementation and project management skills. They will have applied their learning in the context of their own food forest projects – expressed at many different scales across private and backyard to community and commercial models.

Is this for you

Read about the course and the tutors who will contribute to making this an exciting and thorough learning journey.

Know that you will not only learn about designing and creating food forests, but also understand how to implement the governance systems and networks of support to ensure their ongoing success through time.

You will have engaged with all kinds of people and organisations through the duration of the course. You will have learnt a range of engagement and dialogue skills and discovered and used some new and practical online tools to support your collaborations.

If you’re curious about the workload of this course here are a few words that should give you a sense of what to expect.

If the North island course is the one for you, there is only a short time left to register. If the South Island course suits better, that course will run in from July to November.

Still have some questions

Contact James Samuel – 021 2520 653 - james@foodforest.co.nz