#088 A Native Grains & Native Mills Resurgence (Part 1)
Gaala Watson & Robert Pekin on custodial enterprise
You might remember Robert Pekin (with his partner Emma-Kate Rose) from episode 28. Rob’s the founder of Food Connect, the trailblazing social enterprise and legendary community food hub in Brisbane. Since then, plenty has happened at Food Connect. The $2m equity crowd-fund – an Australian first - was successful. And Gaala Watson, a Kungalu and Birri-Gubba Woman born and raised in Brisbane, came on board as Chair of the Food Connect Foundation.
That convergence of people, skills and cultures is bringing about a revolutionary addition to their set up, thanks to a serendipitous chain of events deep and wide across Country. That included connections with local elders, the native grains off Bruce Pascoe’s farm, a young farming couple in NSW who wondered if they could build the first Australian mill in who knows how long, and this podcast.
“It removes your individualistic motives - what benefits me? What’s best for me? What’s going to raise my profit margin? If you remove that, and you treat people like humans, and you treat them with relationality, you’ve got a different business model. You’ve got a different way of doing business.”
Back in episode 28, Rob and Emma-Kate talked about being a ‘systems enterprise’ more than a social enterprise – aiming to change the inter-related food, farming and economic systems, along with the cultural stories underpinning how we organise those systems. Now Food Connect is starting to flip capital from an ownership to a custodial model. This lands squarely in Gaala’s wheelhouse – where social enterprise aligns with Aboriginal systems of governance. And where this particular enterprise aligns with an enduring vision stemming from her father.
This episode was recorded on Friday 25 June 2021.
Get more:
Tune into the 10 minute Extra to this episode, where Rob and I continue on a little after Gaala left (wherever podcasts are found or here).
Woodstock Flour on Instagram.
Hear Rob and partner Emma-Kate together on episode 28.
And my conversation with Mark Taylor at Miller and Baker on episode 69.
Music:
The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.