The Grove has a history of farms in this district (vineyards piggeries dairy).
Farms including urban agriculture are a top asset for future-focussed food security and resilience. Fertile farmland where crops can be grown is one of the most valuable commodities in the world.
Planning for population growth in the Brisbane City Council region has made the remaining farms in the Upper Kedron Brook Valley one of the prime “development” sites for more houses. Our valuable farmlands have been written out of our future history by planning decisions and population growth pressures.
There is an urgent need to identify farmland and arable land that can be salvaged and preserved locally.
Farming and horticulture skills also exist in this local area. How can we preserve them as a community resource and learn from them?
FoodConnect offers a guarantee of income to farmers growing food for the local community and could build a connection with farmers in The Grove.
The Horticulture program at Brisbane College of TAFE Grovely Campus the Brisbane College of TAFE Oxford Park Campus and the Agriculture program at Ferny Grove Senior High School are valuable local education resources for skills in farming and livestock management. These programs require large areas of land for gardens and sheds and are always under competition with other more fashionable courses or potentially profitable (in a quick short-term sense) for a small section of the population. We need to value and speak up for these organisations and the training resources they offer which are such key skills for the future.
The livestock of The Grove are currently diminishing in numbers and if they are to be saved will need urgent attention. We have horses cows goats sheep chickens ducks quail in The Grove on farms at the Ferny Grove State High School and on private properties.
Log on to Transition The Grove and join the Forum to discuss how we can raise the profile of our local farms and farm-education resources in The Grove to preserve them at a time when they are under severe threat from increased population at a time when food security is hitting the headlines as a global concern.