Hidden Garden – Sustainable Farms

Mark and Vanessa Bennett took their story on the road along with recipe tips and fresh produce when they presented at the Duncan Dovico “Great Australian Story” series in Melbourne on July 11th.

Mark shared his passion for fresh seasonal produce, his love of Tuscan tomatoes, and lamented the demise of local market gardens and the ability of Australian communities to feed themselves. He believes the industrialisation of our food and resulting dominance of large supermarket chains now puts a higher value on looks than taste.

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Growing up on Christmas Island, co-founder Mark Bennett was hungry for fresh food from an early age. Mark’s interest in food security and passion for sustainable farming practices was inspired by his first- hand experience of living in an isolated community where you could wait months for fresh produce and delivery was dependent on the swell which often prevented container ships docking. Once unloaded there was still no guarantee of freshness, with food often spoiling on the voyage.  Paying an exorbitant price for low quality fruit and vegetables was and still is the reality facing Christmas Islanders. It is not uncommon for a normal bag of groceries to cost over 250% more than the price of mainland staples, and individual items such as iceberg lettuce and cauliflower can easily fetch $12 and $15 respectively.

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