Cairns Bicycle User Group
Environmental News
NEW ! ORGANIC FOOD IN CAIRNS
UPDATE 28 November 2002:
First Web-based Grocery Ordering in FNQ. This article represents the official launch of the One Straw Organics website. You can view the website at One Straw Organics
To our knowledge, this is the first facility in Far North Queensland that allows online ordering and home delivery of fresh produce. Our goal is to make it as easy and convenient for people to make the switch to organic produce and products.
The website, which has been developed by Greta Vains and Matthew Scott, also lists details of other projects such as the Organic Permaculture Workshops, the Internet Workshops, and the Cairns Review (all issues are available through this website).
We hope that the incipient Sustainable Cairns Indicators project will also be posted on the website within the next week. This project aims to gather data and statistics on Cairns in order to gauge in which ways the quality of life in Cairns may be improving or deteriorating.
Future plans include links to relevant local websites such as the Cairns Bicycle Users Group website www.cairnsbug.org, Cairns City Council www.cairns.qld.gov.au and others (please send in your recommendations !)
If you are a small community group wishing to put up a web page, feel free to give us a call – Geoff or Matt on 4031 0628.
Urgent One Straw Organics Update. We are currently enduring a market downturn. Sales are down. This is due to a number of reasons.
- Seasonal downturn as many people head south for summer
- Summer heat means more people shop at air-conditioned supermarkets
- The drought has meant less availability of some products
- Rusty’s Markets redevelopment has meant parking difficulties and less people coming to the markets.But this doesn’t mean we cannot thrive ! Many of you have already encouraged us to go on.
At One Straw Organics we are hoping to establish a café. We have just today received our café license. Unfortunately we are low on capital. If anyone is keen to help us get through this difficult step, it would be very much appreciated. It would be a pity for One Straw Organics to close down when we have achieved so much, and have so much more we want to do.
At the moment, One Straw Organics runs a home delivery service all over FNQ, operates the shop seven days a week, retails fresh produce, grains, cereals meats, oils, dairy, and a range of potted food plants (as you all well know).
We are developing a seed-savers network. We support LETS (Local Exchange Trading Scheme). One Straw Organics has a community garden at the rear with over 120 species of food plants. We run Organic Permaculture Workshops twice a week, free of charge. People can also choose a lot in the garden to plant out and maintain (no charge).
We run Internet Workshops. We have a website where community groups can put up their own web pages. We publish an online journal every week called the Cairns Review which focuses on sustainable community development. We promote local artists by exhibiting paintings, sculptures, weavings, hand-made paper, and furniture made from recycled furniture in our shop. The Sustainable Cairns Indicators project aims to provide statistics and information on the Cairns community and different trends (positive and negative) impacting on the quality of life in Cairns. We are also publishing a book entitled ‘Guide to Sustainable Cairns and Region.’
However, our core business remains the One Straw Organics shop-café as well as home deliveries.>BR> How to help ? We need:
* tables, chairs and sunshade umbrellas.
* electric frypan (preferably without Teflon if possible)
* electric crockpot
* stove
* volunteer time a couple of hours a week ?
* cutlery and white crockery
* Oscar and/or Champion food processorWe are also open to the possibility of someone else operating the café as a separate business (though it must be organic).
If you can help in any of the above, or in some other way, please ring Geoff on 4031 0628.
Cairns now has an Organic Food Home Delivery Service which offers a range of over 350 organic food products including fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs, dairy, grains, dried fruit, eggs, pasta, jams, frozen food, chicken and beef, breakfast cereals, teas, etc etc.
We have also established a new stall at Rusty’s Market to provide a wide range of organic fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs on Fridays and Saturdays. Nearly all our produce comes directly from local organic growers from Mission Beach to Mossman, from Ravenshoe to Mareeba.
For more information, contact Geoff Holland on 4033 6881, or 0404 883641 or Email
Organic produce wanted:
acerola, apples, avocadoes, green beans, beetroot, broccol, cabbage, capsicum, carrots,celery, chokoes, corn, eggplant, grapes, kale, kiwifruit, leeks, mushrooms, okra, onions, oranges, pears, potatoes, butternut pumpkin, rockmelons, squash, strawberries, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, egg tomatoesfresh and dried herbs: chamomile, dill, peppermint, rosehip, spearmint, passionfruit flower
SPECIAL FOR CBUG MEMBERS: When placing an order say that you are a member of CBUG and Geoffrey will donate 5% of your order to CBUG.
CBUG APPRECIATION: This is the first time that a business in Cairns has offered to support CBUG with money. Thankyou Geoffrey Holland who also worked within the Cairns and Far North Environment Centre, to raise funds for CBUG with the electric bicycle raffle provided by Oliver Wacek, Trinity Cycle Works. This is also a first for Cairns, that another organisation has supported CBUG.
Posted: Wed 28 Mar 2001 at 13:20
Mailto: cbug@altnews.com.au
type: Suggestion
Subject: Mt Garnet fruit inspection station
Email: Department Primary Industries
Comments: The Papaya fruit Fly Project finished in 1999 so the fruit inspection stations (eg Mt Garnet) where you have to eat or throw your fruit, are no longer operational.
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