Premier Anna Bligh, along with the Minister for Environment and Resource Management, 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 following the award ceremony. “I feel this reflects a very positive trend towards our Government in 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, who brings his background in education and information technology to providing localised knowledge to organic food producers, 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.

Mr Kearney added that “...studies of Australian food consumption indicate that the food carbon footprint of individuals is around 30 percent of their total carbon footprint.”

The Department of the Environment, in its description of the business published on the Awards website, acknowledged the role Cityfood Growers plays in empowering small scale organic food growers.

“Cityfood Growers provides services and tailored online information to support a more localised and organic food supply. Its goal is to empower people to become more productive at growing their own food,” said the department’s website.

“Cityfood Growers’ interactive website provides organic gardening information which can be localised to anywhere in Australia, using recent climate information—enabling food gardeners to adapt more easily to climate change.”

“[The website] facilitates local and global connections between food gardeners.”