Beringil

Beringil is the traditional Yuin word for ceremonial feast, this project is about supporting and developing the Aboriginal food industry on Yuin country in the NSW South Coast. There are three parts of this project: Bodjera - real market and commercial training in growing, selling food, Cunnunuri is about creating a local food distribution network for the South Coast of NSW, Tadjerail is about creating real work and pay for people who are disabled or disadvantaged in the South Coast food industry.

Self employment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on the NSW South Coast in the food industry is a logical historical development. NSW South Coast Aboriginal families have long been revered for their work in the seafood  industry and in protecting the ocean, seafood stocks and the coastal and inland environs. Preparing the next generations for innovative, interesting and fulfilling work on the land and sea is what Bodjera is all about. The flagship course in market gardening is due to begin in 2015.  The ultimate task is to create a perpetual fund of $300,000 that will pay for ongoing, specialist, individualised, training initiatives around food production. In some cases training costs will be re-paid by vocational training fees and also by sales of food products derived from the training course. It is hoped that over time training courses aimed at self employment that are self funding will be initiated for market gardening, seafood, cattle and bush tucker self employment enterprises. Investors will be required to invest in the project for a minimum of 5 years. A percentage of profits from food sales will also go into the perpetual fund. Because of the nature of the fund investors are guaranteed to be paid back their investment after 5 years. The dividends from the investment will take the form of boxes of vegetables, seafood, meat and bush tucker.

Overview

The three arms of Beringil (the Yuin word for ceremonial feast) are: Bodjera (to eat) - which gives people the capacity to develop their own small food business start ups, employment and self employment initiatives particularly for long term unemployed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people on the South Coast of NSW; Cunnunuri (to cook) Food Wholesale and Distribution Company which buys, markets and disrtributes Aboriginal food company products and Tadjerail (lilli pilli) Training Initiatives which places long term unemployed and disabled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in training and employment.

To support Berringil a perpetual equity fund is being created that will support the research and development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander food employment on the NSW South Coast.

This will include developing training and employment opportunities in sustainable food enterprises, skill development pathways, start up food companies and identifying market opportunities and gaps for successful businesses. Berringil will also support Aboriginal South Coast of NSW food and pastoral start-up ventures by taking equity stakes in businesses and creating partnerships with non-Aboriginal food businesses. Small capital grants will be made available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander food and pastroal enterprises with an emphasis on developments on Aboriginal land. Priority for grants will be where Beringil has a minor shareholding in each business with returns being re-invested into the venture capital fund.

Beringil will support mara (fish), nali (meat), nung lee (beef) burdi (cockle shell), boolalye (native honey) birrooa (crayfish), bidina (oysters) and tungi (vegetable) food enterprises.

Overview of Beringil

Self employment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on the NSW South Coast in the food industry is a logical historical development. Aboriginal families have long been revered for their work in the seafood and environmental industries. Preparing the next generations for innovative, interesting and fulfilling work on the land and sea is what Bodjera is all about. The flagship course in market gardening is due to begin in 2015.  The ultimate task is to create a perpetual fund of $300,000 that will pay for ongoing, specialist, individualised, training initiatives around food production. In some cases training costs will be re-paid by vocational training fees and also by sales of food products derived from the training course. It is hoped that over time training courses aimed at self employment that are self funding will be initiated for market gardening, seafood, cattle and bush tucker self employment enterprises. Investors will be required to invest in the project for a minimum of 5 years. A percentage of profits from food sales will also go into the perpetual fund. Because of the nature of the fund investors are guaranteed to be paid back their investment after 5 years. The dividends from the investment will take the form of boxes of vegetables, seafood, meat and bush tucker..

Outcomes

Work Readiness

The focus of the project is a real market situation where all participants will be working in a commercial situation subject to weather, seasonal variations and other farming situations.

The skills learned in the project are transferable across many different farming and food industry situations. In short because the project is set in a real market situation participants will learn the necessary skills, disciplines and techniques of a profitable market gardening situation.

Self Employment

Self employment and small business are a vital part of achieving better employment outcomes for Aboriginal people on the South Coast. The existing labour market can provide only a limited amount of opportunities. It is necessary to create new opportunities and new self employment possibilities.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have always had a role in the seafood, pastoral and fruit and vegetable industry of the South Coast of NSW.

The ultimate goal of the project is to ensure trainees are on the road to self employment. Having a job or an occupation is an important determinant of self-esteem. It provides a vital link between the individual and society and enables people to contribute to society and achieve personal fulfilment. The Shoalhaven labour market needs the constant development of people who are seeking self employment options. This cannot readily be learned in a class room this project takes learning into a real commercial market situation.

Indigenous Health

Learning the basic knowledge of food that is necessary for catering, health, retail and family situations. Participants will have a strong chance of earning paid employment as a labourer or contractor and during the course a primary requirement is to sell food that has been planted and harvested, caught or produced.

This project is also about directly promoting health food options for the Indigenous community. Western food and horticulture have had a detrimental effect on Aboriginal health and well being. Traditional life depended on a comprehensive knowledge of flora and fauna. It required great finesse and fitness. Though animal foods were an important part of the traditional diet, meats were not high in fat. Wild animal carcasses had very low fat content and the meat is extremely lean. Everything was eaten including small fat deposits and organ meats, bone marrow, petroneal fluid and blood. A very wide variety of plant foods was eaten including roots, starchy tubers, seeds, fruits and nuts. Plant foods were generally high in fibre and contained carbohydrates that were slowly digested and absorbed.

The physical fitness associated with with food gathering and production together with the nutritional qualities of the diet including high fibre, slowly digested carbohydrates, very low saturated fat, relatively high proportions of the long chain highly poly unsaturated fatty acids, low sodium and high potassium, magnesium and calcium protected against obesity, non-insulin dependent diabetes and cardiovascular disease all of which are highly prevalent in westernized communities today.

Relevance

The project is badly needed because there is a growing demand for fresh, local food that is available in local markets on the South Coast of NSW and in the Capital region of Canberra and surrounds. Aboriginal land councils have a large portfolio of available land that is suitable for food production. Aboriginal families have always worked in the food industry on the South Coast. From our consultations within the Indigenous community there is a need for opportunities to learn to work land for commercial gain.

Capability Building

The project is based in a real commercial environments where the imperative is to sell food on a sustainable basis to commercial buyers. On a seasonal basis vegetables are shipped to the markets in commercially acceptable containers. All of the participants will learn by doing and develop the capacity to run and calculate the worth of crops from seedlings to sales. All of the participants will cook the food they produce throughout the project. They will learn about the food value of organic, fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh seafood and fresh meat and develop the capacity to educate their own families and children about the merits of good food. Each participant develop the basics of designing their own food production systems that are tailored to the land and opportunities they have available to them.

Partnership Based

The project centres on three local organisations Habitat Personnel, the ISX or Indigenous Stock Exchange and Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal commercial food producers who have many decades of experience in a relatively tough Sydney market. It will also link with projects for at risk Aboriginal community members through Waminda - Aboriginal Women’s Health organisation and Slice of Life Australia.

Capacity to Deliver

The project will centre around a successful food producer  of the South Coast – John Fisher, Emery’s Plateau Organics.  From the day each participant begins the project they will be immersed in the real world of food production and markets.  The knowledge from this project will at minimum enable participants to source healthy food for themselves and their families. It will also help them to establish healthy eating and lifestyle patterns as well as creating an educative capacity in the Indigenous community. The project will also show how it is possible to economise and live well from growing produce. In other words in almost every scenario this project will deliver substantial benefits to the participants and the Indigenous community

Market Gardening Self Employment 1

I Spring

Two days a week, 12 weeks, 24 days, 176 hours in total. The course will take place on Thursdays and Fridays 8am-3.30pm of each week. The course is aimed to start in the first weeks of August of each year, however, the starting time will vary depending on seasonal conditions. The course will take place at a Certified Bio-Dynamic Organic Farm and market garden, Rossmore, Emery’s road,West Cambewarra2540 which supplies a range of vegetables locally, with the bulk of produce sold on the Sydney Organic Market.

The course will provide participants with a comprehensive set of skills,covering ground preparation, irrigation, crop maintenance, picking, packing, quality control and marketing for a range of seasonal vegetables. The learning will be done on commercial crops so that you acquire a full understanding of the costs, effort and skills required to be commercially viable in creating your own business. There will be a cooking component designed to aid your understanding and appreciation of vegetables and to help in developing your marketing skills. The course is supported by the ISX and Habitat. The course is aimed at Indigenous participants. A maximum of five participants per course.

A further summer course is also being planned as a supplement to this course.

August

Week 1

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September

Week 4

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Week 6

October

Week 7

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Week 9

November

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December

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Week 14

Finances and Costs Market Gardening Spring 2014- Summer 2015

Total Expenditure

Spring

Learning Costs & Skill Development

Skill Development

Master Vegetable and Market Gardening Supervision and Skill Development

24 days of commercial producer training
including learning about farm safety, team work,
manual handling, soil preparation, planting etc                                                        $38400

Administration, Marketing, Coordination                                                                  $5000

Logistics

Transport to and from Emerys Plateau from
Nowra CBD two days a week for twelve weeks bus, petrol costs, pick ups                                                                                                                                                               $4730

Materials

Seedlings etc   Broccoli, CaulifloweR, Bok Choy ,
Biodynamic Preps 10 acres, Green Manure (Seeds)                                                  $5908

Equipment & Land Use                                

Equipment etc , use of farm machinery, tools,
 fuel tractor and equipment, Use of  land/Rental/Lease 26 weeks 6 acres              $3312

Public Liability & Insurance

Insurance                                                                                                                    $2000

Total                                                                                                                           $59350

Market Gardening (II) Summer course

Two days a week, 14 weeks, 28 days, 224 hours in total. The course will take place on Thursdays and Fridays of each week. The course is aimed to start on January 28 of each year, however, the starting time will vary depending on seasonal conditions. The course will take place at a working farm and market garden, Rossmore, Emery’s Plateau, Nowra. The course takes a learning by doing approach and involves real production for the Sydney Organic market with income shared with course participants and for cost recovery of the course. The course is supported by the ISX and Habitat Nowra. The course is aimed at Indigenous participants. A maximum of five participants per course.  Over a year the course involves learning about marketing, packaging and selling

January -February

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

March

Week 4

Week 5

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April

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May

Week 10

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June

Week 13

Week 14