2009-2022 REMOTE INDIGENOUS GARDENS NETWORK
The Remote Indigenous Gardens Network (RIG Network) was established in 2009 as a national, cross-sectoral networking, research and outreach initiative and was an innovator in the remote food security and food systems space at that time. The goal was to actively network and link people, projects and resources to design relevant, engaging community based garden projects and better gardening practices. All to support people to develop fit for purpose, people and place food production and food system ‘projects’ that together could deliver better social, health and economic benefits to remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We created and for over 13 years maintained a website that was a home and a hub for many resources, links and the RIG Network Newsletter that was published for over a decade.
People living in remote communities know how much fresh food costs: often at least 30%+ more where they live than in urban areas. We can be pretty confident food prices in remote communities aren’t going to ‘get less’ – indeed COVID, supply chain disruptions and extreme events in recent years have seen food prices skyrocket, highlighting the ongoing need for meaningful investment to support people to grow, harvest, and eat more ‘local’ food: action for resilience and wellbeing, that makes sense for so many interlinked social, economic and environmental reasons.
There are many good reasons to grow your own – for livelihoods at home, for community, for enterprise, for climate adaptation and resilience – all part of the picture of why RIG Network was established. These days ‘many’ people, community innovators and programs are working with a food systems lens in remote, rural and urban areas to connect, to promote healthy diets and lifestyles and to grow food more sustainably through garden and food enterprise projects that people want, own and care about.
RIG Network developed and delivered projects in partnership with organisations, individuals and communities and worked closely with Network members to deliver it’s activities. In 2013 Foodswell was established incorporating RIG Network and the resources and outreach activities it developed from 2009-2016. We still provide support and advice to communities and individuals upon request and work closely with network friends, communities and colleagues as and where we can add value. Time moves on, The Intervention is over and Australia’s First People’s lead from the front and we provide support and input when it’s sought wherever possible.
Sadly, in late December 2022 the Remote Indigenous Gardens Network website ‘crashed’ for reasons well beyond our control - it was due for an update, but that was not quite the one we wanted! The site shared many useful gardening and other resources for tropical and temperate regional and remote areas as well as providing links and records of the many community and CDEP workshops we held over the years with partners across top end and central Australia. So, we’re in the process of updating this page to include some of the key resources from the former Remote Indigenous Gardens Network website (2009-2022), including the Guide below, and we’re also working to archive materials from RIG Network with a public Institution in the NT.
(The Guide below is available as a PDF and there are still ‘some’ hard copies to hand. Email foodswell01@gmail.com to obtain a copy).
Guide commissioned by the Commonwealth Government (FAHCSIA),published 2013.