Growing together – garinga djimbayang

Over 50 hardy souls from across Victoria braved the chilly August winds to celebrate the launch of the garinga djimbayang’s ‘Growing Traditional Foods On Gunaikurnai Country (Wurruk) project at Wulgunggo Ngalu Learning Place earlier this month. This visionary project is all about growing traditional foods right here on Gunaikurnai Country – and putting food sovereignty firmly back in community hands.

As GLaWAC Chair Uncle Troy McDonald put it “With control over our foods and the systems that support them, we can really control our futures. That’s what food sovereignty is about.”

The day opened in a powerful way, with fellows from Wulgunggo Ngalu sharing dance and ceremony. Guests then toured the bush foods nursery, a space our crews helped bring to life alongside the Wulgunggo Ngalu team.

“Culture is a vehicle we use to promote change, and growing bush foods is another step in that process.” explained Shaun Braybrook from Wulgunggo Ngalu.

And this is just the beginning – a new pilot program is on the way, offering 20 students from GLaWAC and Wulgunggo Ngalu hands-on, accredited training, guided by Aboriginal traditional knowledge and practices, through the AHC20422 Certificate II in Horticulture.

garinga djimbayang means to grow and learn in Dja Dja Wurrung language. The grant program helps RAPs and TAFEs work together to bring First Nations knowledge and practices into accredited agriculture training. This project brings together GLaWAC, TAFE Gippsland and Wulgunggo Ngalu, with support from the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations, and SuniTAFE delivering the program on behalf of Agriculture Victoria.

Looking back on the launch, Program Manager Sam Monks said: “Our day was a happy celebration of all the hard work that’s gone into our bush foods program – growing and learning together. It also brought us a big step closer to realising the Bush Cafe head chef Kevin Murray’s long-held dream of sharing Gunaikurnai Bush Spice with the world.”