25/07/2026
Eastside Repair Cafe attendees have been able to enjoy fresh local and free leafy greens like mint, parsley and silverbeet from our Really Really Free Table from time to time. That generosity of growers may become a thing of the past if the new regulations proposed by Biosecurity Tasmania are allowed to stand.
If you aren’t already aware what this means for all of us please read this.
There is just one week left to make your voice heard on the proposed changes to Primary Produce Safety (Horticulture Produce) Regulations. If you haven't seen how this will affect us all please read on!
Home producers & backyard growers of leafy greens, berries and melons will be required to comply with relevant food standards & notify Biosecurity Tasmania of their activities and consent to audits if you:
- Contribute produce to community food swaps
- Advertise produce to give away (social media, email, newsletter etc)
- Sell produce to friends, family & neighbours
- Donate produce (eg to local community house for food relief, school, aged care etc)
- Offer produce for sale/free at a roadside stall, market by retail or wholesale
- Give, barter or sell produce to people who operate a food business or horticulture produce business (eg. jam maker, agritourism business)
What this means when people opt out of sharing due to the admin burden:
- We lose access to local food
- Reduced access to roadside stalls and share stands
- We become more vulnerable to food supply disruptions
- More food goes to waste as composting becomes the easier option
Biosecurity Tasmania cannot provide any evidence of outbreaks of disease from home scale producers. They disagree that these regulations are disproportionate to the scale of activity.
Community gardens, neighbourhood houses, community sheds, school kitchen gardens and charity & fundraising produce sales will all be affected. They are not exempt from notification to Biosecurity Tasmania.
All this information has been distilled into easily digested videos by Dr Olivia Rundle, Senior Lecturer in Law at UTAS.
https://www.youtube.com/
What can you do?
Make a submission to NRE by Thursday 30th July 5PM
Emailing will allow you to CC ministers & representatives: [email protected]
For those living in The Franklin-Pembroke catchment (includes Warrane/Mornington) see comments for a full list of the relevant politicians you can CC into your emailed submission.
You can request your email remains confidential and not have your name published if you choose.
Highlight in your email that these regulations contradict the Tasmanian Government's own policies including its Food Resilience Strategy and Red Tape Reduction program.
Suggest an information blitz through local councils & community groups would be a more cost effective way to avoid contamination. More information - less bureaucracy.
Suggest that there be a broader exemption for home growers and not for profit community activities
The full report is here https://bit.ly/4wWmSDk
The webpage for submissions here https://bit.ly/4wdh74d
Big thanks to the work of Olivia Rundle and Wynne Russell for their work to raise community awareness of these proposed changes and what it means for community sharing.
