Water Saving Tip

I hope someone finds this useful. I have discovered a way to save on water and wanted to share it here!

Some modern houses have a pipe connected to the water system that comes out of the wall outside. I have been placing the watering can underneath this pipe to capture any water that might trickle out and have discovered that over a day or two it fills up! This might seem like a small thing, but in the long run, it will make a difference to your water bill!

This project has not only made me think about ways I can make changes in my life that affect food sustainability - it has also crossed into other areas of sustainability. Who'd have thought? :)

Links to food websites with a conscience

Slow Food
Founding in 1989 is a non-profit member-funded organisation that champions the 'slow food' movement in response to the fast-paced, fast-food society that dominates modern life.

Slow food seeks to rekindle interest in modern day food choices by asking us to question the origins of our food, the quality of its taste, how our choices affect others locally, nationally and globally, and reviving local food traditions and practices.

Sustainable Table
Sustainable Table celebrates local sustainable food, educates consumers on food-related issues and works to build community through food.

Vegetarian Times
The world's largest online collection of vegetarian recipes.

The 100 Mile Diet
The 100 mile diet started as a one year experiment with just two individuals in the United States and has spread all over the world. Take the pledge, eat local and join the sustainable food revolution!

One Small Kitchen
One Small Kitchen is a journal of one woman's favourite recipes and musings about food. Real food, mostly vegetarian, in-season wholefoods done simply. Food that is made for delight and wellbeing. Food made to share, celebrate, heal and savour.

Sustainability choice creeps up on me

Today marks Day 15 of our Fair Test where we've each been growing a plant of choice (Jess is growing lettuce, Shirin is growing rocket and I'm growing peas) and testing which fertiliser (organic vs. non-organic) grows the best produce.

Today I went down to my garden bed and discovered something fabulous! I was so excited, I had to grab the camera to capture what I think represents 'nature as art'. The vines on my peas have started to wrap around their stands! This happened over night and I'm so excited by it. My plants are growing and doing what they need to survive by reaching out to something and holding on so tightly. So beautiful!

I couldn't help but take photos of the vines to share on our blog.

And then as I was focusing on the vines, I noticed the beautiful patterns than were emerging on the bigger leaves of the plant.

Exposure to readings for our Art class has really opened my eyes to creativity all around me - even in nature. And yes, I took some close up photos of the leaves as well ...

Look at the detail, isn't it amazing?! Literally splashes of colour.

And then you know what else happened? Well I couldn't stop taking photos there, I ended up walking around the garden and taking photos of everything I could find that interested me or that had depth of colour or line that I'd never really paid much attention to before.

In our back garden we have some mango trees and some garden boxes that we're growing a whole host of veges in. While in our front garden we've got rose beds and lavender bushes lining our verandah and side fence. When I was taking photos of the lavender it got me wondering how I can use the lavender in our home. A little side research project for me to look into because we do buy lavender products and how great would it be if I could use what we're growing in our garden instead? Adding my little contribution to making sustainable and environmental choices.

And there you have it - a personal connection to art, nature and making sustainable choices as a result of a fair test experiment. Who would have guessed? :)

The Speech that Silenced the People at the UN Earth Summit 1992 by Severn Suzuki

Children really do care about a sustainable future and can make a difference.

Welcome to our blog!

We've created our blog to document our learnings, findings and research about sustainable food.

Our key question framing our investigation is: How will an understanding of the issues surrounding food sustainability affect our every day food choices?

We're trying to find out what sustainable food is and how we can make better choices that will sustain our future. More so though, we want to find out what sustainable food means to us.

But who are we?

We are a group of three pre-service teachers from Brisbane who are undertaking an inquiry-based project about how we can empower ourselves (and our future students) to make sustainable food choices. Essentially this blog about our journey will inform a resource that we can each use in our future classrooms; but more so than that, it really is about our own learning experiences and how these will impact our day-to-day choices about food sustainability. If at all.

We hope you enjoy the journey as much as we do!