How the bushfires led Cath to care about farming food

Sustainable Agriculture Gardening Eurobodalla (SAGE) recently elected Catherine Reilly as their president, and she has stepped into the role passionate to see Moruya develop into a secure and resilient food hub.

Ms Reilly joined SAGE three years ago when she stopped full time work but has been growing vegetables all her life.

"I have always loved food and loved cooking," she said.

However, like planting seeds and watching them flourish gradually over time, learning about food security has been a slow process sprouting into a passion for Ms Reilly.

When she moved to Moruya 25 years ago, she began to learn about the importance of food security - a lesson drilled home when the town was shut off during the Black Summer Bushfires and supermarkets couldn't restock.

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SAGE ran a farmers market at the time and it reinforced for Ms Reilly how crucial local food suppliers were.

"Being able to say to people 'It's okay, we have food, everything is okay' was a great feeling," she said.

"I think it's really important that a community has access to fresh food."

Ms Reilly said having reliable local food growers supplying fresh produce also helped overcome the rising costs of living and the seemingly ever-increasing price of a trolley of groceries.

"The price of veggies is skyrocketing but it's not," she said. "It just isn't. If you buy at the market and grow in your backyard, it's the same.

"The price of food doesn't go up at the market as much because we don't have transport, storage or fertiliser costs.

"It's better value for money."

She's convinced food security is important, but also that locally grown fresh produce is, well, just better.

"What I buy at the farmer's markets or grow in my own backyard tastes way better and is better for you," she said.

"Once you start shopping at a farmers market or growing your own backyard food, it's really hard to go back to produce that has been sitting on the shelf."

For Ms Reilly, stepping into the role of president is all about ensuring the strength of SAGE into the future.

She wants to see SAGE become a strong, robust and financially viable organisation.

"We want to be sustainable so that no matter what happens in the future, our community has this organisation which is passionate about feeding the community," she said.

It's why SAGE started Stepping Stones farm to train commercial gardeners, and it is why they have just restarted their workshops to equip locals with the knowledge to grow their own food and develop a system that is less reliant upon supermarkets.

A large part of what SAGE does is education. Ms Reilly has walked the path of learning, and wants to share her passion with others in the community, for the benefit of the community.

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"I didn't know anything about local food security in Sydney," she said.

"But it such a great journey to know why broccoli are $10 at the moment, or why there is a problem with potatoes."

She said growing conditions were forever changing and bringing new challenges.

"It is hard, but we can't exist without food," she said.

"We need local food growers.

"The people who grow food for us are heroes."

The SAGE Spring Equinox event is on September 18 in Moruya, and is a great way for members of the community to learn more about the organisation, or get involved.