Our Mission
Melbourne Food Hub’s mission is to create a replicable model of a self-sustaining Food Hub. Our role is to create a place where the community can meet to engage with food through learning, growing, making, eating and sourcing fresh local produce. As well as a place to support, incubate, and house local food enterprises and social businesses to encourage the co-creation of local food systems.
Currently, this is realised through the weekly Sunday Alphington Farmers Market, and the beginnings of our urban agriculture farm. Soon to come are a community commercial kitchen and plans to re-imagine the distribution of food to our institutions.
We are a joint venture project between Sustain: The Australian Food Network and Melbourne Farmers Market. Our major funder is the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation.
Weekly Farmers Market
One of Melbourne Farmers Markets’ 7 farmers markets can be found at this site every Sunday from 9am-1pm.
Urban Agriculture Farm
The role of urban agriculture on our site is to reconnect city folk with how and where their food is grown.
Community Kitchen
Destined to be a multi-use space for the community as well as for small food business boost incubation programs.
Food Distribution Business
The Food Distribution Business connects buyers and institutions to fresh, seasonal and local produce.
Composting
We have a number of different composting methods in place around the site. Reground also have a composting and education hub.
Food Business Boost Program
Our Food Business Boost Program supports women, mainly migrants, women over 50 and single mothers, to start and grow their own local food business.
The Food Businesses celebrate cultural diversity with products ranging from miso to cupcakes, to Mexican salsas.
Women are mentored and coached through a dedicated and fully subsidised program, thanks to our major funders Inner North Community Foundation and Bennelong Foundation.
We are a growing hub of new food businesses
Our collective impact approach means we work with an ever growing number of like minded and aligned food business organisations to realise our common goal of a local and fair food system. We are modelling innovative practices that support a circular economy.
Why Localise our Food System
The combined efforts of the organisations on site means we are demonstrating a localised closed loop system in the heart of Melbourne. Localising our food system is good for our health, the environment and supports a thriving, flourishing community.
Weekly Market Visitors
Species planted
Food Business Boost Participants
Food Box Deliveries
Different composting systems on site
Special Events
We run workshops and special events, stay tuned for upcoming dates. Some of our past workshops have included:
Wicking Bed Workshop
Facilitated with Very Edible Gardens, we run hands-on wicking bed workshops where participants learn how to build and maintain these water efficient gardening solutions
24 Mar 2019
Passata Making Workshop
A hands-on workshop where participants learnt to make passata and took home their own bottles to enjoy for the months ahead.
Latest from the Blog
Regular updates on the all the happenings at the Melbourne Food Hub.
Cultivating Resilience: A Beginners Guide to Home Food Production – Part 1
In these uncertain times, with food flying off the supermarket shelves faster than it can be restocked, growing our own food at home has never been more important. We’re seeing an unprecedented surge in interest in home gardening in Australia, with nurseries around...
Building resilience on our Urban Farm
"It’s been around one year since we first started developing an empty, contaminated ex-landfill site into a Centre for Sustainable Food Systems Education, and what a journey it’s been!" - Audrey Beard, Melbourne Food Hub's Urban Agriculture Facilitator. The Urban...
Kingfisher Citrus at the Melbourne Food Hub
Since April 2018, Kingfisher Citrus have been very effectively using The Melbourne Food Hub site as their metro operational hub of activities. Each week you will see their fleet of trucks come in and off and on load their wares. It's a farmers dance, as they expertly...
A Special Thanks to Our Funders
