Jade Miles is using her nomination as the rural woman of the year to fly the flag for North East farmers and sustainable food practices.
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The Stanley farmer and Beechworth Food Co-op founder has been named one of three finalists for the Victorian part of the award.
Over the past three years, she has seen the Beechworth Food Co-op grow from 60 to 800 members – it now has 40 North East growers on board.
“We predominantly focus on taking food from being a commodity product that people have little regard for and are not connected to, and taking it to a place where people see it as something that’s actually sacred and that’s worth celebrating and that’s worth building traditions around,” Ms Miles said.
“That starts to instill a sense of value, not only for the food that is grown, but for the people who grow it, and from that you get a higher regard for farmers.”
She said the co-op was not just about selling food, but educating people to eat seasonally rather than automatically getting food that is available at a supermarket.
“We make sure our growers are our price makers so they dictate the price that they deem to be fair to allow them to be a regenerative farmer that really looks after their land and really considers their growers needs and use organic or ethical processes,” she said.
“It’s allowed people to see that there is possibly another way outside the industrial food system, which is leaving our regional and rural communities in Australia relatively broken.
“Connect people to food and it connects people to each other and it allows us to celebrate together.”
The rural woman of the year nomination was an exciting recognition.
“It’s lovely to have that pat on the back because it’s something that I give more time to than my family or my paid job,” Ms Miles said.
“It really gives you a chance to fly the flag for regenerative farmers.
“They don’t have the voice that export and commodity growers have because they don’t get the economic return, but what they do is they connect with people and connect communities.”
The Victorian winner will be announced on March 20 at Melbourne Museum and will receive $10,000 to implement their project vision.
Ms Miles said she would use the money to start a podcast series, interviewing North East growers about creating a sustainable food system.
Agriculture Victoria’s Leesa Sheerin congratulated the women on their nomination for the award, which she said “celebrates these women, their achievements, and the crucial role they are playing in rural and regional industries, businesses and communities".