Home - Food Is Free

We’re a community led
not-for-profit providing
food security and education.

Building community resilience and environmental awareness by providing education about living sustainably, growing and sharing fresh nutritious food, since 2014.

Food Is Free Laneway (305 Ripon St Sth, on cnr of Warrior Place, Ballarat) started on 18th October, 2014 by founder/Director Lou Ridsdale. It migrated to our Food Is Free Green Space located at 212 Ripon Street Sth), in May 2023, and no longer exists in it’s old site.

Inspired by John VanDeusen Edwards,(founder of Food Is Free in USA), as well as Ron Finley (The Gangster Gardener, South Central LA, USA), and other worldwide guerilla gardeners. Food is Free Laneway at the Green Space is a magical space for people to drop off, or collect, free nutritious food, (veggies, fruit, herbs only), and make neighbourhood connections.

Our vision is to create a food secure, inclusive, sustainable and healthy community. Our mission is to build community resilience and environmental awareness by providing education about living sustainably, growing and sharing fresh nutritious food.

Every year, we educate and empower thousands of people, and aim to continually grow what we do.

Food Is Free Inc. turns 10!!

Sun 20 Oct – CELEBRATE 10 YEARS OF FOOD IS FREE INC…

10am – 3pm at Barkly Square, 25 – 39 Barkly St, Ballarat East | Wadawurrung

Starting with First Nations Women’s Yarning Garden Official Launch at 10am.

Smoking ceremony, Welcome to Country, speeches, followed by workshops from 10am – 3pm.

Official Food Is Free Inc. Birthday celebrations from 11am

Music/speeches/special announcements, plus tour of new Urban Food Farm space,

followed by a BBQ lunch for all.

Food Is Free Inc. Market stall held at Barkly Square instead of usual Green Space market

INCLUDING OUR BIG ANNUAL TOMATO SEEDLING SALES – 10.30am – 1.30pm.

VERY Special guest: Costa.

Workshops & gardening demos for rest of day sprinkled throughout the space hosted by both Food Is Free Inc. vols & First Nations Women’s Yarning Garden members noon – 3pm

Event Ends: 3pm.

The Festival of Food Is Free Inc. will be an exciting week-long celebration of 10 years of Food Is Free Inc. in Ballarat/Wadawurrung. All events are free.

Stay tuned for more info via www.foodisfree.com.au and @foodisfreeinc

Food Is Free Green Space
212 Ripon St South, on cnr of Urquhart & Ripon Sts
Ballarat Central VIC 3350

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What to drop off and how you do it

Here’s a list of items we need plus where you can leave them:

Food Is Free Green Space

Gardening Tools

If you have any pre-loved gardening tools please leave outside our front gate for collection from our visitors.

Please tools only – we don’t need plastic containers, jars, or similar items. Please take these to the op shop etc.

Gardening Pots

All sizes gardening pots (please leave at our pots stand). If you have a spare moment, we’ve love it if you gave our stand a tidy up please.

Please leave pots only – we don’t need plastic containers, jars, and similar items.

Seeds & Seedlings Sharing

Got spare seeds, or seedlings?

Gardening Seeds! We love them. Please leave them in the Free Seeds Toolbox.

It’s a great thing to save your own garden seeds and donate them to community. It is literally FREE FOOD, and we get very excited about local seed saving.

Seedings! It’s lovely to grow seedlings for others. If you are growing some food for yourself – why not do an extra few to donate to us for our visitors to plant in their gardens?

Please leave them on our Free Seedlings Stand.

Books

Books are key to learning new things.

We love books and magazines on any self-sufficiency topics such as gardening, crafts, cooking and related topics.

Please leave in our Food For The Brain street library.

Organics & Food Scraps

Food scraps for composting (please drop into our green Aerobin compost bins along our fence line – signage on bins will guide you but basically anything organic e.g. kitchen scraps – veg/fruit/herbs and plant cuttings, tea bags, coffee grinds, but please NO cheese, dairy, package food, bread, rice, pasta, plastic bags etc.

If the Aerobin compost bin you choose is sealed up and signed RESTING, it means it is temporarily out of action.

Egg Cartons

Empty egg cartons

Please leave these in the Greens Recycle Bins marked EGG CARTONS & TOILET ROLL HOLDERS.

If you have time to rip them up, please place them direct into one of our Aerobin compost bins along the fenceline.

Toilet Roll Holders

Empty toilet roll holders

Please leave in the Greens Recycle Bins marked EGG CARTONS & TOILET ROLL HOLDERS.

If you have time to rip them up, please place them direct into one of our Aerobin compost bins along the fenceline.

We also don’t need any extra goods dropped off other than what is listed on our entrance signs – PLEASE read them to familiarise what we do and don’t want or email info@foodisfree.com.au if in doubt.

Upcoming Events & Workshops

Children’s Week : FREE Kids Gardening workshop 23 OCT 2024 (0 -6 years old only)

Wed 23 October at

10.30am - 11.30am

Festival of Food Is Free Inc. Celebrating 10 years of Food Is Free Inc. in Ballarat

Sat 12 - Sun 20 Oct at

Various

Seed Saving with Cath Lily – Food Is Free Inc workshop 5 May 2024

Sun 5 May at

2pm - 3pm

Worm Farm workshop with Food Is Free Inc. 14 April 2024

Sun 14 April 2024 at

11am - Noon

Driven by committed volunteers and board members.

We have a team of approx. 70 marvellous volunteers who assist with regular weekly, fortnightly or monthly shifts varying from 30 mins up to an hour per session.

Duties carried out ensure the health & safety of all our visitors, and tasks include disposing of perished food, general tidying, attending to the jars/bottles and garden pots recycle station, watering our plants, and other gardening tasks.

We also have events volunteers who help at our workshops, markets and other activities, plus graphics, arts and crafts volunteers and administrative assistance.

Click on our Volunteers page for more info on how to apply.

We are presently recruiting for new Board members for 2024, as well as for our newly formed Fundraising Committee. Email our Chair via chair@foodisfree.com.au for more info.

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We need your help to grow

Food Is Free Inc. relies on the generosity of the community to sustain itself and gratefully accepts financial donations no matter how big or small. Help us make a meaningful impact in the Ballarat community by donating today!