About Us
Growing Food Justice is a community farm collective working to make food justice the lived reality for everyone.
Across our two community farms in Darebin (Naarm, Melbourne), we practise the foundational pillars of food justice – showing how a life lived close to food and community offers hope in a time of compounding health, social, economic and environmental crisis.
The work we do varies by the day and season.
Some days, you’ll find us planting, tending or harvesting food for local relief agencies or in support of a young farmer’s social enterprise. On other days, you’ll find us hosting events where locals gather together over food. Or you might find us working alongside a cohort of food justice interns – First Nations people and others developing life skills, confidence and connections through food and farming. You might find us teaching food and sustainability to local school children, listening & learning from Country and Elders, working alongside corporate volunteers or sharing our knowledge and resources with other community farmers.
This is what living and practicing food justice, means to us.
Our Values
Community-led
We stand behind the communities we live and work in. We listen to their voices and empathise with their needs and strengths. We design the work together - ensuring everything we do fosters their sense of agency and the uniqueness of their place.
Togetherness
We nurture a thriving food culture in the communities we live and work in. We do this by creating diverse and welcoming spaces for everyone to gather, share and connect over food.
Pathfinding
To help weave a city-wide patchwork of community-led, food justice farms. We share knowledge & resources and use our networks to create pathways for new food justice farmers.
The Team
Jesse Redlich (they/them)
Urban Farm Coordinator
Jesse is a farmer, gardener and parent living and working on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country. Jesse brings many years’ experience in horticulture and community work to our Farms, valuing building community through non hierarchical and open knowledge sharing and the importance of growing native plants and creating access to food growing skills for the community.
Mikey Gould (they/them)
Urban Farmer
Mikey is a queer & disabled farmer and aspiring educator living and working on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country. They have a background in botany and conservation, and are interested in regenerative and sustainable farming practices. They're passionate about sharing knowledge in accessible and non-hierarchical ways.
Faerlie (they/them)
Urban Farmer
Faerlie is a genderqueer person navigating farming as a settler here on unceded Wurundjeri country. They grow food to strengthen community.
Elke Johnson (she/her)
Project Officer
Elke is passionate about all aspects of food systems. Based on Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung Country, she works as a Project Officer at Sustain and is a member of the Growing Food Justice team. Elke is committed to fair and sustainable food access for all, and she loves being able to split her time between the office and the farm.