Reimagining Food Systems Through Community Power

Nick is a visionary leader dedicated to transforming food systems. As a food systems educator, a Churchill Fellow, editor of two food movement anthologies and established researcher, Nick brings a wealth of knowledge to Sustain. Recognised as one of Australia’s leading champions of sustainable food systems, Nick’s expertise has been a driving force behind Sustain’s impactful initiatives, positioning it at the forefront of food system innovation and sustainability. During his PhD on the global food sovereignty movement, Nick co-founded and coordinated the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (2010-2015) and led the participatory creation of the first version of the People's Food Plan (2012-13). Nick co-founded Sustain in 2015 and was also a Senior Lecturer in Australia's only Bachelor of Food Studies (William Angliss Institute) from 2015-2026. 

I would describe my career trajectory as 'evolving', with an increasingly strong focus on social justice, equity, sustainability and systems transformation. I began working life straight out of law school in the traditional way, i.e. doing Articles and then practising as a corporate solicitor. After 18 months I left to travel, then did a succession of legal-related work in London for several years. A major turning point came in making the decision to do human rights accompaniment work in Guatemala, which led to me co-founding a capacity building human rights organisation and running workshops with indigenous rights, women's rights and small farmer organisations for six years. That in turn led me back to study, to embark on a PhD on food sovereignty, and back to Australia. I always wanted to put my ideas into practice, which led to me co-founding the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (in 2010), and then Sustain in 2015. I have been blessed by many mentors and supporters on this journey, to whom I am profoundly grateful. 

What drives you to do the work that you do?

I spent years living in Guatemala, witnessing first-hand the injustices of a global system that condemns a very large proportion of humanity to live in hardship and poverty. A particularly influential book I read shortly after arriving was "Bitter Fruit: The untold story of the CIA coup in Guatemala", which documented how a majority-indigenous nation was plunged into decades of violence and intergenerational trauma purely because its government attempted to utilise its resources to improve the lives of the poor majority. This experience instilled in me a very strong commitment to social justice and a burning desire to use my skills, capabilities and networks to create what change I could in the cause of greater justice and equality. I also draw great inspiration and hope from the passion and creativity of so many people, in Australia and worldwide, taking action to improve the lives of their fellow creatures, human and non-human.  

If you could go back in time, what piece of advice would you give yourself as you first embarked on your career?

I've often thought that, if I could have my time again, I would have taken a year or two to travel and do a range of different jobs before joining the law firm as a solicitor. I was only 21 when I started that job and I knew at the time it was too young. I would definitely give that advice to anyone considering a career in the corporate world today. Having said that, if I had taken that path, it's quite possible that I would have stayed working as a corporate lawyer, and my life would have been taken an entirely different path and I may well have never lived in London, or Guatemala, or done a PhD in food sovereignty, or founded a sustainable food systems organisation. So, on reflection, I'm think I'm actually glad I made the choices I did. I abandoned a potentially highly lucrative corporate career, took a lot of risks and tested myself, and now gain immense satisfaction from knowing that the work I do is very meaningful and is contributing to moving us towards a better future.  

Any words you live by day to day?

Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark: the Untold Story of People Power (2004) articulates wonderfully the philosophy by which I strive to live. Here's a quote that sums it up: 

“Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency. Hope should shove you out the door, because it will take everything you have to steer the future away from endless war, from the annihilation of the earth's treasures and the grinding down of the poor and marginal... To hope is to give yourself to the future - and that commitment to the future is what makes the present inhabitable.”

And another: 

“To hope is to gamble. It's to bet on your futures, on your desires, on the possibility that an open heart and uncertainty is better than gloom and safety. To hope is dangerous, and yet it is the opposite of fear, for to live is to risk.”

What are you currently watching, reading, or listening to?

I was fortunate enough to travel to the UK last November, and even more fortunate to meet many extraordinary and inspiring people on that trip. None more so than Charlotte Hollins, who, at the age of 21 when her father died in 2005, managed to raise GPB800,000 to save Fordhall, the organic farm in Shropshire which her family had farmed for generations - but only as tenants. How Charlotte, and her brother Ben, then aged 19, achieved that was through the creation of a Community Benefit Society, which issued GBP50 'community shares'. Through an extraordinary campaign, over 8000 people purchased those shares, converting the farm into the UK's first community-owned farm: "One farmer, 8000 landlords" , as their website says. Charlotte is one of the community leaders who founded the We're Right Here campaign calling for a major shift in power from Westminster to communities and local authorities. Her work has inspired me to launch a campaign for a Community Empowerment Act for Australia this year. Charlotte and Ben's story is told in The Fight for Fordhall Farm and it's a beautiful and hopeful story of dramatic change against the odds.