This is one of the few things we won't compromise on, whatever the shortcut on offer: every Mini Farm Project farm runs on regenerative and permaculture practice, and we will never use chemical fertilisers or pesticides.
It would be faster, and often cheaper in the short term, to farm the conventional way. We've chosen not to, because the whole point of what we're building is long-term — farms that keep producing food for families in need for decades, not paddocks that get depleted for a few strong seasons and then need increasing chemical inputs just to stay productive.
Building the soil properly, through composting, crop rotation and genuinely regenerative technique, is slower. It's also the only approach that actually compounds: healthier soil this year means better yields next year, with less input required, not more.
It matters just as much for the young people training on our farms. Certificate II Horticulture students at Woodstock and future sites won't just learn how to grow food — they'll learn how to grow food in a way that regenerates land rather than exhausts it, a skill set that's becoming genuinely valuable as more of Australian agriculture looks for exactly this kind of expertise.
And it matters for the families eating what we grow. Food grown without chemical inputs, on soil that's being actively rebuilt, isn't just a values statement — it's simply better food, and families doing it tough deserve exactly that, not whatever's cheapest and fastest to produce.
Read more about our farming approach at www.mfp.org.au.
