Author: Tara Morelos

“Food is part of the planet – you’re going to put it in your mouth and eat it. You can do it in a way that honours life, or just takes from the planet.”

What’s your name, and your role in the farm?

• Phil: farm owner and hands-on manager.

How would you describe Moonacres?

• 150 Acres, 2 main growing areas, 1,800 fruit trees, verdant, high rainfall area, year-round farming – the soil is some of the best in the country. The farm brings me a lot of pleasure, the work is outdoors and varied. I enjoy seeing the kale healthy and alive!
• It’s also, very spiritual – you’re working with a living thing, that’s frail and delicate. Humans incorrectly assume they can control nature – if they can’t, they often destroy it. You have to let go, and be an accepting participant in this amazing process that we’re all part of. I recognize my limitations and want to work WITH nature. What’s not spiritual about that? It’s just beautiful.

What is the most important thing about what you do?

• I’m looking after the soil. With agricultural industrialisation after WWII and widespread conventional farming, globally, soil has been neglected and degraded. Soil IS a living thing, and we must look after it, because if we don’t it won’t feed us anymore. I have been entrusted with the care of the soil, and am looking after it on the community’s behalf. Working with something that is alive, like soil, is rewarding – spiritually, physically, and intellectually. What a great job!

Why do you partner Alfalfa House? (We whole-heartedly appreciate this!)

• I was an Alfalfa House member in 1986, and I’m honoured to be on the Alfalfa team. Lots of Inner West people know what good produce tastes like. When you eat food that is naturally and properly grown, your life can change. Being connected to real food, brings a level of aliveness – you become clearer. Alfalfa House has been a good customer for us, it allows connection to the soil.

One of the core pillars for Alfalfa House is sustainability – we try to reduce our environmental impact through our practices and supply chains. How does Moonacres approach sustainability on the farm?

• I’m insane about sustainability. Moonacres is organically certified and ferociously looking after its soil. We’re working on a project called Farming the Sun. The goal is to get the farm solar independent, create a virtual battery, and share energy with each other. Energy reticulation will also run our café.

Describe the Soil Project.

• Soil is a living, breathing, biologically active membrane on the surface of the planet, which provides us with nearly all of our terrestrial food, not just chemical nutrients. It’s actually a LIVING thing, a whole cosmos of life we know very little about. What we put into it affects how alive it is. I want to learn how to grow better food. The aim of the project is to keep the microorganisms, the living system healthy.

What is the one thing you want people to know?

• Life depends on healthy soil. Picture what I call the upside-down food pyramid of doom, with its point is pushing into the soil. Shops and markets are at the top, with the combined weight of our unsustainable society squeezing down on farmers, and crushing the life out of the soil at the bottom. Consumer choices at the top of the pyramid either support sustainable farming, or contribute to the pyramid of doom, are they are made every time you shop. Food is part of the planet – you’re going to put it in your mouth and eat it. You can do it in a way that honours life, or just takes from the planet.
• I’m asking you to make a wise choice: help me and help the soil. Because when you do, you lift a tiny bit of weight off the pyramid of doom, and if we do that, we will be healthier, and so will our planet.

When you shop, be grateful you have an opportunity to commune with the planet. People can make a difference, and create a food pyramid of joy instead.

Rapid fire questions

1. Sustainability = joy
2. Food = life
3. Change = what you make it

D: Hi Micky, thank you for taking the time to be interviewed today for Volunteer Week. Can you share with us your pronouns, and your volunteer role here at Alfalfa House?

M: No worries! My name is Micky, he/him pronouns, and I mostly do the jobs of receiving stock, filling the shelves and anything else that needs to be done.

D: When did you start volunteering here and what made you want to start?

M: I started almost two years ago, mainly for two reasons. One, I had just moved to the city from the country and I didn’t really have any connections or friends, those hadn’t developed yet, so that was one aspect. Also, I have volunteered since I was about 15, so it’s always been something I’ve done.

D: So, what was your first volunteer role?

M: I volunteered at an aged-care home when I was in high school. I played games with the people there and cooked them food and stuff, it was fun!

D: That’s sweet! It’s really interesting that you said you started volunteering here at Alfalfa House to make connections and friends. When I first came to Sydney, the first place I went to was the co-op and that’s how I found my first share house.

M: It’s really cool how we can share connections like that through the co-op. Everyone here is so lovely, and they all come from different fields and walks of life, which I really enjoy.

D: Yeah, it is a really great place where people can come together, be accepted and give back.

M: It really is. I love the concept of people consciously coming together and making a difference not only to the community but also to the environment. A big factor for me, is how can we help the environment as much as possible? Alfalfa does its best to do that and demonstrates different ways we can sustainably live in society.

D: In what ways do you see Alfalfa House and our volunteers giving back to the Inner-West Community?

M: Alfalfa House is a space where people can come and connect with others. It also has that open, almost ‘home-like’ feel to it that you don’t get when shopping for your groceries elsewhere, and you can just come in and enjoy the community garden out the back too.

D: I’m not sure if a lot of our shoppers know we actually have a community garden out the back you can spend some time in and just chill out. I love starting my volunteer shift spending a few minutes out in the back garden, ‘grounding’ before I get into it.

M: It is so important that a space like Alfalfa House exists. There aren’t many places like it where you’re just completely welcome.

D: Let’s talk about National Volunteer Week and this year’s theme: “Recognise. Reconnect. Re-imagine.” What does this mean to you?

M: With, “Recognise”, I go straight to how Alfalfa House really recognises the different things we can do as human beings to help the environment, and consciously makes that effort. I think it’s so cool that we now have a container so people can sustainably dispose of their old toothpaste tubes and tooth brushes. It’s important to keep recognising the small things and the difference they make.

D: What does “Reconnect” mean to you as a volunteer?

M: Making connections with new and established volunteers. We’ve just met and instantly connected, but we’ve both been volunteering here for some time, just on different shifts!

D: The last part of the theme is “Re-imagine”. What does that mean to you as a volunteer here at Alfalfa House?

M: Mmm, let’s look around. It would be cool if we could paint a rainbow on the floor or wall! That’s my callout to an artist member who wants to volunteer their time and come in and paint us a rainbow here!

D: The world can always do with more rainbows! Now you’re also an employee here. How did your volunteer work lead you to being employed?

M: I was talking to Carina about being dissatisfied with my then paid job, and she told me that we had an opening and that I should apply. I thought this was amazing, I had been a volunteer for a long time and built these great friendships, I didn’t think that could be an option for me. It really shows how important this space is to connect, and what those connections can bring to your life.

D: That is perfect timing, and really does align with this year’s theme. You were able to form a deeper connection with the people here and be employed in a role that you didn’t consider or see as an option before. Your skills and effort were recognised in a way that allowed you to re-imagine your career, while staying true to your values and goals. 

One last question Micky, what would you say to someone considering becoming a volunteer at Alfalfa House?

M: Definitely do it! It’s enjoyable and nice to know your actions will make a real difference, and that’s all we really have control over in our lives. At Alfalfa House, you can make a difference for the community, the environment, and yourself.

D: That was beautiful and powerful to end on. Thanks so much Micky for what you do and taking the time today for this interview.

M: Thank you, it was fun!!