Moving Feast

Moving Feast is a group of Victorian-based social enterprises growing, cooking and delivering culturally appropriate meals to the people who needed it most during the very challenging times of 2020-21 and the global pandemic. Moving Feast was formed when things were tough and set about to try and make things a little easier for those that were feeling it the most. Even now, there is still so much that can be done. Read on to find out more, or check out the Moving Feast website. 

The Faranda Family with produce from their farm heading to families in need.


MFM is very proud to have been a founding partner alongside these other amazing organisations:

We also couldn't have achieved what's already been achieved without the support of:

 

What Moving Feast is all about...

CONNECTING SMALL SCALE FARMERS WITH CONSUMERS

Many of the makers, growers, farmers, orchardists, producers and small businesses we work with every week experienced a massive drop in orders from the restaurant, café and catering trade and the impact of COVID-19 restrictions. 

MFM’s response was to connect these regional producers with the Moving Feast project. We purchased tonnes of produce that had no-where else to go, adding fresh produce to emergency food packages and channelling it to kitchens making delicious food to be distributed to community members. This has been a vital avenue of income for producers and hugely appreciated by those who needed it.

 

“We’ve been running our family farm since the 60’s growing baby corn, sweet corn, asparagus, broad beans, snow peas and butternut pumpkins.  When we started out we sold everything to the supermarkets but we realised that wasn’t the best for us a while back.  Now we supply about 100 restaurants and sell fresh veggies at the farmers markets every week. With Covid the restaurants cut back and then stopped ordering within a week, we lost a lot of baby corn – there was no point picking it, I just ploughed it back in.  I was very, very pleased that the Farmers Markets didn’t close, we would have been in trouble without them.  Then they bought a whole lot of corn and some other produce and that really kept us going.  It was all used for Moving Feast.” 
- John, Jonella Farm, Cardinia VIC

  

 

CREATING NEW URBAN GARDEN BEDS

Melbourne Farmers Market has invested in new garden beds at our Alphington base and has partnered with DIVRS, STREAT and Cultivating Community to grow fresh produce on-site specifically for the Moving Feast kitchens to access. Around 100sqm are now productive, transforming our degraded landfill site to a thriving above-ground market garden.

Every week this produce is harvested and heads off to public housing estates, to schools with families in need, and to local community food relief agencies

Miranda from MFM with another harvest from the Alphington garden beds.

REDUCING WASTE

We’ve also been able to take bulk surplus produce off farmers hands, fruit and vegetables that would otherwise have gone to waste, and channel this into the Moving Feast fresh food project, or as ingredients for value-adding into meals and products.

Gary from Pollards Apples
 
 “I’ve got 50 acres out here but we only use about 5 acres each year so that the land gets a break.  I grew Sweet Potato this year, planted it in November ready to harvest in April.  With any crop there is always a little waste – some of the sweet potato get damaged during harvest, or they’re really small… or really big.  Melbourne Farmers Market bought the sweet potato seconds and channelled them into the Moving Feast project, I was happy they could be used.”

- Mark, SAVE OUR SOILS, Kyabram VIC

 

 

URBAN FOOD DEPOT AND KITCHEN

Our site in Alphington has become a drop off and collection point for growers and kitchens. Regional producers can now easily deliver their wares, and the Moving Feast kitchens have easy access to ingredients for the meals they prepare for families. A Victorian Government Agriculture Workforce Plan grant enabled us to upgrade facilities and install cool room and storage areas for food relief and supporting farming businesses to adapt and survive through diversification and innovation. 

We're now able to work with food businesses in last mile logistics via our Alphington site. Find out more about our MFM Depot here.

 

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The Moving Feast team estimates that over 10% of our population will need emergency food support as we work out how to live through this global pandemic. 

If you can, we invite you to support Moving Feast with a donation so we can keep up our support to the people who are struggling.

Visit the Moving Feast website for more information and to donate. Thank you.