The Food Embassy

The Food Embassy is a social enterprise on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, founded in 2016. The organisation's vision is to support and strengthen local food communities that restore and nurture our connection to ourselves, our community and our planet. They do this through hosting events, workshops, training and mentoring community leaders to influence the food system. Key to the organisation's work is acknowledging First Nations people as the traditional first sustainable farmers of this land.

Since 2019, local government authorities in the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu region of South Australia have been engaged in enabling a resilient food system in the face of climate impacts. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the global influence on our regional food future has become even more profound. In 2022, The Food Embassy alongside local government and other key stakeholders, facilitated a series of workshops to build a deeper, shared understanding of the issues and identify opportunities for collaborative action.

To realise the exciting prospects for this region, a collective of government, philanthropic and purpose-driven organisations and enterprises are working together to co-invest in the Hills and Fleurieu’s Food Future. Sustainable Table is funding the first step of this project - establishing a regional activator role. The key aim of this role will be to pilot a workable and viable model for a collaborative approach to strengthening the Fleurieu & Hills’ Food Future.

The project’s key objectives for the next 12 months are:

• To better understand the key gaps and opportunities for
  catalytic projects.
• Activate community engagement.
• Build the case for investment in this role and relevant catalytic
  regional food system projects.
• Identify the frameworks needed to facilitate the collaboration
  going forward.