Cityfood Growers

Brisbane-based organic food information portal Cityfood Growers has been placed as a finalist in the small business section of Queensland's 2011 Premier's ClimateSmart Sustainability Awards. Premier Anna Bligh, along with Environment Minister Kate Jones, attended the Awards, held on July 10 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The placing highlights the work small businesses are doing to promote sustainability in the state and recognises the work small scale food growers are doing to transform our food system, according to Peter Kearney, owner of Cityfood Growers.

"It is an honour to have received this recognition against some quite large businesses that are doing great things in the sustainability arena," he said. "I feel this reflects a very positive trend towards our Government realising the important contribution that small scale food growers can make in transforming our food system to being more local, organic and sustainable."

The Cityfood Growers head, said the efforts of small food growers, would make a "significant contribution" to raising awareness about action needed to abate climate change. "...multiplying the numbers of small scale food growers throughout Queensland and Australia, supported with timely and localised food growing knowledge from our business, can make a significant contribution to reducing their food carbon footprint," he said.

Cityfood Growers was established in 2007 with the aim of providing people with "services and knowledge to support the transformation of our food system to be more local and organic," according to Peter Kearney.

The company website is the largest organic food resource web site in Australia and its recent release added growing information on 85 Australian bush food plants, bringing the total number of food crops in the site to 300. A 7 day free trial of the new Gardener subscriber site is available from the website.

The company also offers organic and biodynamic gardening workshops in Queensland and consulting services to a growing number of schools and early childhood services.