At Jetty Food Store we think of sustainability as the “ability to endure” and we think about this in relation to 3-things: the business, the local community and food resources. In terms of the ecology, sustainability can refer to “diversity” and the  ”productivity over time” of biological systems, with the health of the system being measured by the extent of the “bio-diversity”.

Establishing a business in a small regional town in Australia is no easy task, and I could share many stories of triumph and tragedy that many, including us, have experienced. Our persistence has come in handy over the years, particularly in staying true to  our business model, designed for sustainability and incorprating the principles of ‘diversity’. I am pretty proud of what we’ve achieved since I established the business from the ground up in 2006, and we’ve had some formal  recognition with business awards in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

It’s a big achievement to be able to employ many of our staff on a full-time basis and the other big one is that we’ve developed a network of local growers to provide our produce, available for retail and goes into our value added food production.

We have a strong fair-trade economy with our growers who include: backyard farmers, backyard fruit tree owners, hobby farmers, semi commercial and certified organic growers and many of them from our region, even our actual township.

Our contribution to lowering the carbon footprint  out of this township is that our fresh produce travels such little distance to be sold and we love the lifestyles that this sustains for the growers and our consumers. This food supply methodology also creates bio-diversity, with lots of seasonal variety being planted and harvested in backyards and on small acreages around the neighbourhood and it also means our customers get to experience a great variety of seasonal fruit and vegetables.

Will Australia be able to feed itself in the future?….. we believe one of the answers is Backyard Farming!  Here’s what some experts are saying about our food resources. http://bit.ly/hJommP