HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Our Story begins in early 2014 when interest in the Jamie Oliver Pop-Up Kitchen competition was building momentum in the Dandenong Ranges.

Although the Dandenong Ranges bid did not ultimately win, it was clear that Hills locals were excited and ready for their own “food revolution” .

So three of the people who had worked on the Jamie Oliver submission decided to see where this wave of community enthusiasm would take them. They set about building a good food project of their own and thus The Hills Food Frontier was born

Community consultation was the next step.

COMMUNITY CONSULTATION

Community Consultation – an essential ingredient
A community meeting in late May was the first step in taking The Hills Food Frontier from an idea to reality.The gathering resulted in four action groups:

Good Food Growing – schools, homes, businesses, community.
Good Food Eating – cafes, businesses, homes and local gatherings.
Good Food Learning – classes, sharing, swapping, meetings.
Good Food Promotion – data base, resources, mapping & newsletters

Brainstorming sessions led to strategies and projects that fall under the groups of growing, cooking, sharing and learning. Check out the “Achievements so far…” page to see those strategies come to life.

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OUR ACHIEVEMENTS 2016-2017

The Ridge Research Report into good food and community and school gardens was completed and will be launched in March 2017
Food is Free Tecoma (FIFT) is an ongoing project that is maintained by a team of locals. FIFT is open 24/24 and well used on a daily basis by the community. The launch of this project was attended by over 100 people. The FB page is one way of telling the community about this project but THFF have also visited many local support agencies and handed out flyers. Postcards were developed and distributed around the Hills. Signage has been developed and donated by Tecoma Uniting Church to more clearly identify the project venue. Consultations have been held in Emerald, Mt. Evelyn, Maroondah,The Basin, Nunawading and Frankston about the project. FIFT also liaised with groups like the Hills Community Church and DRERs and talked to people at markets.
Good Food and Gardening Festival was an afternoon event supported by YRS and reported to them in October 2016. Attended by over 80 people
Face Book Pages and Website these online services were supported by a team of THFF volunteers. Both the website and the 4 Facebook pages continue to grow and are used well by the Hills community. They have reached a combined total of over 220,000 people
The Good Food News Newsletter is well received seasonally and 100 or more copies are widely read around the Hills and many more electronically
A very wonderful Annual General Meeting attended by 20 people who enjoyed a Sri Lankan Feast afterwards
A brilliant first Annual Report was produced and circulated to our membership and interested organisations.

Over 3000 followers on Facebook!

Introduction to bee keeping

Holding Educational Working Bees

Hills Food Frontier - grow, share and eat good food.

Publishing a Monthly Newsletter

Connecting with local Good Food businesses

Establishing a Good Food Festival

Community Gardens

ANNUAL REPORT 2017

The team at THFF Inc. is proud to present 2017 annual report.

If you are looking for a hard copy you can find one at Belgrave and Monbulk libraries or at the Shire of Yarra Ranges offices in Upwey. We hope you enjoy finding out all the things that we’ve been up to – you might even be surprised at all we’ve done!

Click to download THFF 2017 Annual Report
Request an email copy of our Annual Report