Common Ground Project Food Hub
What Does Our Food Hub Do?
Our Food Hub is an opportunity for the community to connect with and purchase produce grown on our regenerative farm, supporting the local food system and protecting vital growing land for future generations! You will also be supporting local producers from around the community and our larger region, often hyper locally within Freshwater Creek and Moriac, as well as down to the Bellarine Peninsula. We sell a range of products grown with love and passion, and we’re always looking for more growers and producers to connect with.
We’re looking to support emerging farmers with storage, aggregation, resource packs and supplying the produce in our Food Hub Market. If that is you, let us know here.
We also create Veg Boxes, designed with love and care! Our boxes feature delicious seasonal veggies, fruit and items from our local producers.
We work closely with other parts of Common Ground Project, including our Staying Grounded program to explore training and employment and opportunities for the program participants. We partner with organisations, council and small businesses across the Greater Geelong region to host events, programs, communities of practice and consultation sessions.
If you are one, or know of anyone looking to connect and collaborate, please get in touch at foodhub@commongroundproject.com.au.
Veg Boxes
FAQs
What can I expect to find in my Veg Box?
The contents of our boxes change due to the seasonal nature of our farming practice being regenerative, so you’ll always have something delicious and different inside your box depending on what time of year you’ve made an order. How fun!
Can I have my Veg Box delivered?
Absolutely! Currently we offer deliveries to locations within the postcodes 3217, 3216, 3227, 3228, 3230, 3240 and 3226. Being a small team we do not yet have the capacity to expand our delivery reach beyond nominated localities, however we are always working towards reaching a wider clientele. If you are interested in being a *host* as a business or a household, where multiple people (or your employees) could pick up from, we would organise a delivery time / day across the week. Please email foodhub@commongroundproject.com.au to discuss!
Alternatively, you can choose to pick up your box from Common Ground Project in Freshwater Creek.
When do you deliver Veg Boxes?
We deliver Boxes on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 4-5pm. When we leave Common Ground Project, an email will be sent to you that we are on our way.
When can I pick up my Veg Box?
You can pick up your Veg Box Wednesday, Thursday and Friday between 1-5pm and Saturday between 8am and 12:30pm. Saturday orders must be in by Friday 2pm to ensure we have harvested enough!
Do you always have Veg Boxes on offer?
Yes we currently do! Our farm is producing veggies all year round. If we don’t - you’ll know about it. Hopefully it’s not a climate catastrophe…
Can I choose what goes in my Veg Box?
Due to the seasonal nature of our veg boxes and demand for produce across our markets, café and partner hospitality venues, we aren’t able to offer personalised veg boxes. However, we are happy to cater to allergens and food intolerances, just add it into the order note or send us an email at foodhub@commongroundproject.com.au and we will do our best to accommodate your dietary needs.
What is the order cycle?
We take and fulfil orders on a weekly cycle based on a Saturday to Saturday rotation. The order cycle doesn’t close - so you can order at any time during that week (before Saturday 1pm) and we will fulfill the order for your chosen day. (Note that if you order after 1pm Saturday, the dates listed on our shop will be for the following Wed/Thurs/Fri/Sat).
An order cycle never closing means: you could order at 12pm on a Wednesday and we will fill the order for you ready for pickup by 1pm!
Workshops, Cooking Experiences & Special Events
We are thrilled to be able to welcome the community to our beautiful site for workshops, cooking experiences and special events that inspire, educate, empower, connect, knowledge share and support ongoing community collaboration. We love sharing the space with people from all backgrounds and points of experience. Join us for a wholesome time at our regenerative farm and community hub.
We partner with local experts in food & farming who come with a wealth of experience and knowledge in their field, as well as our own staff who are farmers, ecologists, educators and foodies.
Our offering can range from permaculture & garden design, to composting, fruit tree pruning, olive harvesting & curing, mushroom growing, bee education & beeswax candle making, as well as more casual celebrations of food including passata parties and cooking experiences using our woodfired oven.
We want to see more and more people being able to access our workshops and join us for a wonderful experience at the farm, but we know that sometimes the financial aspect can be an inhibitor.
Currently, all workshops are on our site, so find your way to 675 Anglesea Road Freshwater Creek 3217 if you have never visited us before.
If you’re someone who thinks you might be a good fit for hosting in collaboration with us here, please reach out at programs@commongroundproject.com.au.
Community Fund
Our Food Systems Fund is a foundation offering community the opportunity to support initiatives we facilitate across the Food Hub. These initiatives foster equal opportunities within our local food system, as well as access to fresh and healthy produce.
We recognise the urgent need for a more resilient and equitable food system which acknowledges the significant role relationships to land, food and community play in achieving food sovereignty, healthy ecosystems and a thriving social network. Our Food Systems Fund aims to support these understandings in order to reimagine, regenerate and strengthen our food system in the Greater Geelong region.
If you can make a difference, we urge you to consider a contribution.
For transparency, our Fund has currently funded the access to culturally appropriate fresh vegetables at our North Geelong Markets (in collaboration with Cultura).
We Need You!
Please consider donating to our community fund.
Additionally, anytime you visit us in-store you can choose to add any dollar amount to your coffee, lunch, or veggies purchase.
Note we are a short time away from deductible gift recipient status, currently donations cannot be claimed.
Community Veg Box
You can choose to purchase a Community Veg Box which is designed for someone in need of veggies in the community.
At the checkout, you can choose a preference to donate the box to someone in need (e.g. a friend or neighbour - and we will drop it to them), or for us to donate the box to one of our community partners in the G21 region.
What is a Food Hub?
“A Food Hub is generally a business or an organisation (for-profit or not-for-profit) that manages the acquisition, distribution, and marketing of food products primarily from local and regional producers with the aim of satisfying wholesale, retail and institutional demand (Open Food Network, 2023).
Food Hubs are committed to maintaining transparency in their supply chain, sourcing ethically sourced produce and goods, providing fair prices to farmers and producers, and identifying the exact origin of the final product (Open Food Network, 2023). The Common Ground Project Food Hub promises our community access to locally and ethically grown and made produce and products. We source our range from local farmers and makers across the Surf Coast, Geelong and Bellarine regions, thereby supporting our local food system and contributing to a growing network of local growers and suppliers.
Food Hubs represent a conscious effort to build on the many thriving and highly popular examples of emerging local food economies, such as farmer’s markets and community-supported agriculture enterprises, by identifying and meeting key gaps in local circuits of food production, distribution and consumption (Imagining a Casey Food Hub, 2011).”
We have partnered with VicHealth as one of seven Future Healthy Food Hubs across regional Victoria. It's a huge opportunity for us to play a greater role in strengthening and connecting our local food system.
If you would like to read about the other six hubs, who uniquely offer regional areas their own version of a Food Hub, go here.
We envision a more resilient and thriving regenerative food and farming ecosystem in the Surf Coast and Greater Geelong regions, where people have access and are connected to land, food, culture, meaningful work and community.
Benefit for farmers
We aim for the Food Hub to create demand for produce that is environmentally responsible and locally sourced. The region surrounding Freshwater Creek has opportunities for more small-scale food and farming enterprises to be connected by a common space for distribution and sale in the pursuit of a fairer system. If we can reduce the barrier for farmers to sell their local food, including hobby and backyard farmers, greater interest and demand for fresh produce from our region will be generated by the public all year round, thus supporting the growth of small and micro enterprises in the Surf Coast and Greater Geelong regions. If you’re a grower of any sort and scale, please get in touch!
Youth
A component of the partnership with VicHealth is the employment of two Youth Team Members in the Food Hub. This will give two young people aged between 18 and 25 who have diverse lived experiences an opportunity to be positive leaders and changemakers in the local food system. Through designing and operating a resilient and localised food system model, the two young people have the opportunity to work across all the operations of the Food Hub. This includes harvest, packing, logistics, systems and technology, market set-up, customer sales, producer liaison, marketing, workshops and more. They are engaged in training and networks through VicHealth where they can voice ideas and challenges, with the intention of advocating for a better food system within the Food Hub and their wider local community.
Community
We believe we can create stronger, healthier, more economically independent communities through connecting the dots in our local food system. We envision increased social and economic participation of a diverse range of people where anyone and everyone feels welcome to be a part of the Food Hub. This began through engaging the community in dialogue around the design of the Food Hub. We provide a range of engagement programs, workshops, seminars and events across areas of growing, cooking, nutrition, preserving and waste. The Food Hub is a collaboration with the community, where co-designing and co-hosting highlights cultural exchange and celebration through food. Our aim is to create a connected community of equipped and empowered individuals who feel included in the ongoing evolution of a space that is created by the community, for the community.
Thinking About Health
We believe food brings people together, and that access to fresh and affordable food is a basic human right. However, we recognise there are multiple and complex barriers that prevent a range of people living in regional areas from accessing and enjoying healthy, environmentally sustainable, and culturally appropriate food. The Greater Geelong region has an increasing economic and social disparity, where individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds have limited access to the food or community connection that supports their social, physical, mental and cultural health and wellbeing. The Common Ground Food Hub aims to reduce barriers and support people in our community to access, understand and maintain the foundations of a healthy lifestyle. If you are struggling to afford fresh vegetables, or are an organisation looking to partner in our quest for a supported and thriving community, please get in touch at foodhub@commongroundproject.com.au.
