In 2024, St Joseph’s Primary School in Grenfell successfully applied for funding through the Western NSW Local Health District’s 2025 Building Healthy Communities Challenge to start a community garden. The initiative aimed to promote sustainable eating and physical activity by creating garden beds and using local expertise to teach gardening skills.Â
Led by Natalie Caruana from St Joseph’s, a working group was formed, which drew in other organisations and schools including Weddin Landcare, The Henry Lawson High School, Grenfell Men’s/Hen’s Shed, Grenfell Food Hall, Grenfell Multi-purpose Service, Weddin Community Native Nursery, and Grenfell Preschool and Long-Daycare Centre as well as individual community members.
Guided by Weddin Landcare, greenhouses, compost bins and garden beds were installed and workshops were run to educate community members on growing fruit and vegetables; soil health; and composting. Workshops were held at St. Joseph’s Primary School, Grenfell Preschool and Long Daycare and the Grenfell MPS.
The project quickly evolved from a small school project to a community-wide effort aimed at providing healthy, low-cost fresh produce to the Grenfell Food Hall.Â
The Grenfell Food Hall offers low-cost groceries to community members but struggles to source fresh produce as the food must travel long distances. Families on tight budgets tend to cut fresh fruit and vegetables first, and this can have huge impacts on health. The working group saw the urgent need to assist the Grenfell Food Hall so this has become a major focus for the project.
Food is now grown and shared across multiple sites, fostering an intergenerational skills and knowledge exchange among children, adults, and the elderly. Food drops to the Grenfell Food Hall are being made on a regular basis, with customers ecstatic to receive the locally produced fruit, vegetables and herbs.
The working group, now Grenfell Community Produce, has created a Facebook page to spread the word and share produce, seedlings and knowledge throughout the community. Recipe cards are now being developed to help families prepare healthier meals from the produce grown.
Weddin Landcare continues to be an integral part of Grenfell Community Produce, by providing input and knowledge to the working group, helping to expand the project, participating in working bees and running educational workshops.
