Update. September 2011

Buy Nothing New Month ... Tuna ... Price transparency ... Chook roaming ... Big Beef ... Spring Planting

Buy Nothing New for a Month!
Don't get stuck thinking there's no other way but to spend your way to heaven. Buy Nothing New Month (this October) encourages people to investigate second-hand alternatives, extend the life cycle of things and maximise household savings. Do it. www.buynothingnew.com.au

Big catch for canned tuna campaign
(August 31) Coles releases a range of pole and line caught skipjack tuna – a sustainable tuna product. While, disappointingly, Coles hasn’t cleaned up its entire range, this is a significant improvement. It also follows the commitment by Safcol this year to switch its entire range to sustainably caught tuna – the first Australian company to do so. >> Find out more. See the video. Contact the supermarkets and tuna brands directly and tell them that’s what you expect.

Call for improved price transparency on food
(September 8) Independents Bob Katter and Nick Xenophon will introduce a bill to Federal Parliament calling for retailers to display the prices they pay farmers for their fresh produce next to the price they're asking from customers. They say Coles and Woolworths need to explain the large price disparity between farm gate prices and retail prices of produce. In some cases products like citrus have a mark-up of 1,000 per cent. Whoa radical! more

Watchdog acts on chickens
(September 14) The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is alleging barn-raised chickens are not ''free to roam'' and has launched Federal Court action against Baiada Poultry and Bartter Enterprises (one company), which supply chickens under the Steggles brand. Steggles is a major supplier to fast-food giant KFC. more >> Check out the speciifics of animal welfare certification schemes at www.animalwelfarelabels.org.au

Cargil recently acquired AWB and so together with Graincorp have dominace in the grains industry as well. There are concerns that this consolidation could mean Australia ends up owning very little processing, which could threaten the nation's food security. more For more about Cargil and agribusiness in Australia.

>> What can you do? Find out about your meat and it's story, support local meat suppliers, source farm-gate produce. Here's some examples: www.oaksorganics.com.au (NSW), www.beefatthefarmgate.com.au (VIC), www.farmgatebeef.net.au (NSW, QLD), www.avonvalleybeef.com.au (WA). Or through Aussie Farmers Direct www.aussiefarmers.com.au . Interested to know more? Check out the Local Harvest project ... coming soon.

"When the world wearies, and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden." ― Minnie Aumônier

Eat your own. Not kids - vegies!. Lots of them. Now is the time to get some seeds in the soil. Asparagus, Basil, Beetroot, Capsicum, Carrot, Celery, Climbing beans, Cucumber, Eggplant, Lettuce, Parsnip, Potato, Pumpkin, Silverbeet, Spring onions, Sunflowers, Sweet corn, Tomato, to mention a few…
Check out more at www.gardenate.com
>> Can you feed your family on vegies grown in just 10 square metres? Find out with the diggers mini plot, more at www.diggers.com.au.