Since 2013, City of Melbourne, Doing Something Good and Open Food Network have been working together to support the people, communities and organisations improving our local food system. Since 2015, through our Local Food Launchpad program, we’ve worked with passionate, inspiring and creative Melburnians to develop their ideas for local food ventures, and grow their ability to innovate, collaborate and shape a better food future.

There were dozens of applications for this year’s Local Food Launchpad and the judging panel were thoroughly impressed and inspired by the quality and diversity of projects and the calibre of applicants.

This year’s Local Food Launchpad will see 20 people working on 13 ventures go through the program - a mix of innovative startups, social enterprises and community initiatives addressing a range of issues in our food system.

The program kicked off with a full weekend bootcamp followed by weekly sessions every Wednesday evening until 18 July. A full weekend clinic will be held on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 July, and the program will end with Pitch Night on Wednesday 8 August.

Read on to find out more about who is involved in the program this year:

Beales Road Farm - Beales Road Farm is a community enterprise in Greensborough in Melbourne’s North. The small “landshare” arrangement produces fresh, nutritious, pesticide-free, seasonal herbs and veggies for local distribution. Whilst the key aim of Beales Road Farm is local food production, through doing so, it also provides training opportunities for marginalised learners to become work-ready in their desired area of horticulture or related occupations.

Bunjil Farm: Hemp Centre of Excellence - As president of the Industrial Hemp Association of Victoria (IHAV), Lyn Stephenson, is passionate about hemp. In her quest to promote this emerging industry, Lyn established Bunjil Farm, a small, licensed hemp farm and bed and breakfast near Kyneton. She is experimenting and researching the science and technology of producing hemp to share her knowledge with others and showcase some of its many uses to tourists, by incorporating a hemp interpretive centre.

Downs Estate Community Project - Down’s Estate Community Project has recently started on two hectares of council-owned disused farmland in Melbourne’s South Eastern suburbs at Seaford. This project aims to develop a market garden social enterprise model that will create employment and training in agriculture and horticulture, as well as opportunities for Melbourne and Victorianresidents to get involved.

Edible Educators - Edible Educators provides grade three and four teachers with the resources, training and curriculum materials to deliver a one term unit of study. The unit of study will focus on a small farming project, and will integrate the current compulsory VELS (Victorian Essential Learning Standards) and NAPLAN objectives that are taught to these student groups.

Flavours of Flemington - Flavours of Flemington is a social enterprise and awareness-raising venture to promote access to locally grown and produced foods by members of Flemington's most vulnerable communities.This concept will engage residents of Flemington's housing estate and community garden to highlight the benefits and importance of nutritious, affordable food. It will also provide training and employment opportunities through cooking programs at the neighbouring community centre.

Food Ed - Food Ed’s primary focus is to educate the next generation on food systems so that they can be responsible food citizens - they may even become the next food system thinkers and entrepreneurs! Food Ed brings expert food education to schools through specially developed activities and resources directly linked to the curriculum.

Garden to Plate Maidstone - Garden to Plate aims to establish a garden on vacant land in Maidstone, less than 10 km north-west of Melbourne’s CBD.This will supply a portion of the ingredients for a community kitchen and provide produce for households to displace lesser options such as take-away fast foods, microwave dinners and some of the Soup Van clientele. It will encourage residents to earn credits by caring for plots in their own garden whilst providing occasional relief to stressed parents.

Grow Soil - Grow Soil aims to build awareness of the relationship between our health, the nutrients in our food and the health of soil below our feet. They seek to help Melburnians to continue to thrive by educating local farmers and consumers about the link between soil, nutrition and health. They believe a better understanding in this space is an important step to shifting our system towards sustainable production of nutritional local food.

LocalFlourish - LocalFlourish is a website dedicated to teaching people how to grow food in their local area. They take the guesswork and complexity out of growing food at home and present practical information based on local and seasonal conditions in an accessible format. The website includes useful information on pests, watering, varieties, planting and common mistakes that beginners make.

Melbourne Aquaponics - Jonathan Martinetto founded a business called Melbourne Aquaponics and their mission is to spread sustainable food production techniques around the planet. They fulfil this mission through educational content on their website and YouTube, offering ready-to-go aquaponics setups to Melbourne-based customers and consulting for custom projects.

Seasoned: The Local Food Network - Seasoned is a fresh produce distribution system which connects local farmers to restaurants using a simple online platform. Restaurants can order from multiple farms and purchase local seasonal produce delivered within 24 hours of harvest. Local farmers upload produce available biweekly and set their own prices. The produce comes into a central packing space, and is sorted and delivered within a single morning.

Three Bears -Three Bears is about doing hospitality differently. They take locally sourced, seasonal produce from Victorian farmers and use it to inspire a menu of oat-based breakfasts. Think Apple Crumble Porridge, Turkish Delight Bircher and Savoury Groat Bowls (like a breakfast risotto!). Profits from their products are used to support and fund projects that help feed Aussie school kids affected by food insecurity and build life-long food skills.

Waratah Market Garden - Waratah Market Garden is developing the unused space within the Waratah Special Development School into an urban market garden. Their focus is on growing crops not commonly found in markets and supermarkets such as indigenous foods. To do this, they’re working closely with the 20 different cultural groups that make up the 80 students currently attending the school and aim to foster practical skills and healthy food choices.