The first item on the checklist: eliminate food insecurity in Logan.
Next, the brains behind the Mini Farm Project have their sights set on the rest of Queensland.
The farming not-for-profit will this October start construction on a farm right here in our city.
The Mini Farm Project has teamed up with another local group, Tamborine-based youth environmental organisation known as Youth Enterprise Trust, which has leased more than 4 hectares of land to the project at its Woodstock Farm in Tamborine.
Director at the Mini Farm Project, Paulette Oldfield, said once the Woodstock Farm was operational, Youth Enterprise Trust would be responsible for growing and harvesting the produce.
“Young people going through their projects will be growing the food to donate back to the community and to charities like Aus Harvest, Foodbank, Foodshare and Meals on Wheels,” she said.
“We’ve got the lease signed and gone through the various approvals so now it’s just about raising funds.
“That’s what our leadership team are focusing on at the moment, fundraising.”
Previously, the Mini Farm Project operated two farms in Samford and at Loganlea State High School, where they grew and harvested fruits and vegetables which they donated to local charities.
Samford Farm is now under different management and has since become a community garden and sustainable farming education hub, while Loganlea State High School’s farm has temporarily ceased operations due to a lack of funding, Ms Oldfield said.
“When we do get the funding, we’ll be starting up that farm again.”
Ms Oldfield suspects food insecurity levels have worsened due to the cost of living crisis.
Data determining food insecurity levels in Logan since the beginning of 2025 is not yet clear, but in 2023 more around 47 thousand people in Logan experienced food insecurity on a daily basis, according to data released by hunger relief charity, Foodbank.
“The cost of living crisis is obviously not better. It’s actually gotten worse, and so therefore this is going to have an impact on people having access to fresh food,” Ms Oldfield said.
“This issue of food insecurity, it’s not something that we can ignore now, because it’s not just even a local issue, but it’s becoming a national and international issue”
In the future the Mini Farm Project hopes to open farms on Griffith University’s Logan Campus, at Coolum Beach and in Cairns.
“There are ways to donate on our website, people can donate $3.70 a week and if we get 100,000 people across Australia to do that, we can build a farm a month.”
