Bundaberg Fruit and Vegetable Growers (BFVG) is gauging the interest of growers in the establishment of a farmers markets and the publication of a Farm Gate Stalls list for growers selling at road side stands. If growers are interested in either of these concepts please contact the BFVG office on 07 4153 3007 or info (at) bfvg.com.au

SustainaBundy is a new community group working for a sustainable Bundaberg region through a strategy called relocalisation. This two pronged approach entails reducing consumption of energy and material goods while producing and sourcing daily needs (food, water, energy, manufactured goods, etc.) as locally as possible. This minimises reliance on finite fossil fuel resources and reduces greenhouse gas emissions while also strengthening the local economy by directly supporting local producers and locally owned businesses.

While SustainaBundy will ultimately have subcommittees to address several aspects of sustainability including education, food, energy, transport, local economy and waste, the group's first project is the publication of The 2008 SustainaBundy Directory and Guide: how to live a GREENER life in and around Bundaberg. This annual guide will contain a directory of businesses and producers within 100 miles - or 160km - around Bundaberg that make or grow products locally, community groups that are helping to make the area sustainable, cafés and restaurants that serve locally grown food, and interviews and how-to articles on everything from recycling to solar power.

The guide will be printed in the most environmentally responsible way possible; on a waterless press with vegetable based inks on 100% Australian recycled paper. Single line listings in the directory are free for all appropriate businesses, and advertising is also available at very reasonable rates with all proceeds funding future SustainaBundy projects. To get listed in the SustainaBundy guide, visit www.sustainabundy.org, email info (at) sustainabundy.org or call 4196 0043.

This article, with the first paragraph added by BFVG, appeared in the December edition of BFVG's newsletter, "Fresh Pickings," which came out Thursday. Already I've received an email from a grower in Childers interested in a single line listing in the guide.