[Sdpg] Permaculture property scores top award in South Australia" Leadership Through Sustainable Industry Award "

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson]

http://www.users.bigpond.com/brookman/Premiers%20Food%20Award.html

Leadership Through Sustainable Industry Award

                      winner - The Food Forest

                         sponsor - Peats Soil & Garden Supplies

The Premier's Food Awards are the most prestigious and hard fought prizes 
for the food industries in South Australia. The Premier said there was an 
exceptionally high standard of entries for this year's awards, which 
applaud individuals and companies for their leadership, innovative 
thinking, training initiatives and export achievements.The Awards not only 
recognise the hard work of  food producers and processors, they also give 
finalists and winners the Premier's endorsement and exposure to help them 
enter new interstate and overseas markets.

There are four industry leadership awards, for:
* Innovative Services to the Food Industry
* Sustainable Industry
* New Export Development
*  Innovation

The Food Forest won the Sustainable Industry award against a strong field 
including the state's pre-eminent organic dairy food company.

The Food Forest's strong ethical base gives rise to thorough attention to 
sustainability in every facet of the enterprise, from the initial 
permaculture design to the selection of providers of inputs and the 
retailers of Food Forest products. The fact that Annemarie and Graham 
Brookman practice sustainability in their everyday lives and actively teach 
others how to make their properties, businesses and families more 
sustainable made the judges' task easier.

Permaculture design emphasises the energy flow through any enterprise and 
figures were provided to demonstrate how much energy, in the form of 
fertilizers, electricity, diesel etc, the Food Forest uses per kilogram of 
food produced. Against a benchmark conventional property it was found to 
use about 20% as much energy.

The judges noted that the permaculture design demonstrates the concept of 
consciously harmonising a number of forms of production simultaneously on a 
particular piece of land, such as a pistachio orchard with barley growing 
between the trees as well as geese, bees and Brush Tailed Bettongs 
foraging; this optimisation of production provides multiple yields, 
biodiversity and environmental stability as well as big energy savings.

Annemarie and Graham established The Food Forest 
http://www.users.bigpond.com/brookman/ from a bare paddock 21 years ago to 
promote a model for sustainable land use in semi arid agricultural areas 
and chose to grow crops that are well adapted to the river flat near Gawler 
where the 15 hectare property is located; it is now Australia's largest 
producer of organic pistachio nuts. Another superbly adapted tree crop is 
the carob and the Brookmans are developing a new food from the beans. 
Cider, wine, olive oil, free-range geese, honey and organic fruit and 
vegetables are other products.

In order to derive reasonable profitability from their raw foods the 
Brookmans have developed value-adding systems which involve environmentally 
responsible equipment including a cold room built with straw-bales, 
a  photovoltaic system for generation of solar electric power and a high 
efficiency dehydrator built locally. All waste water from the home and 
certified organic food processing facility is recycled using reedbeds.

The Food Forest acknowledges the contribution of Peter Wadewitz and his 
company Peats Soils in sponsoring an award that focuses attention on 
sustainability in the food industry which, through its massive use of 
water, energy, minerals and fuel, must remain a candidate for improvement.

The Food Forest was also named Australia's top organic food producer in the 
2003 Organic Federation of Australia awards.

Further information about the Premiers Food Awards and the SA State Food 
Plan is available on the
Food South Australia website.

ABOUT FOOD FOREST

The Food Forest is a permaculture farm producing 160 varieties of 
organically certified food; it is a busy centre for people interested in 
learning skills for a sustainable way of life through short courses and it 
is the base for a consultancy service specialising in the design of 
ecologically sustainable properties.

The Food Forest is being developed by Annemarie and Graham Brookman and 
their children Tom and Nikki, to demonstrate  how an ordinary family, with 
a typical Australian income can grow its own food and create a productive 
and diverse landscape.
We are committed to the sharing of information through our courses and 
field days and at this website you will find some of the 
technical  information that we have learned in 15 years of sustainable 
gardening, farming and building.
Many people have helped us with skills and knowledge handed down from 
previous generations and others have come up with stunning new ideas rooted 
in a fusion of modern science and a commitment to sustainability. More than 
ten of these keen, optimistic people now teach with us in a team which 
harnesses University and research experience, practical hands-on skills and 
a passion for the future of our landscape and the Planet.
The empowerment of people in understanding and working with natural systems 
is the most exciting part of working at The Food Forest.
We welcome information from other sources and we are keen to link sites 
with other information providers; feel free to link this site to yours or 
to suggest it as a research address for students.

Please note:
The information provided on this website is given in good faith but 
mistakes can happen. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of the 
contents.

Contact us
Annemarie and Graham Brookman
PO Box 859,
Gawler, South Australia 5118
ph/fax 08 85 226450
website   http://www.users.bigpond.com/brookman
email    brookman at bigpond.com