A Pause, Not a Full Stop

It’s with heavy hearts — but heads held high — that we share the news that the Tasmanian Produce Collective is winding up.

For the past five years, this grassroots co-operative has been a lifeline for more than 50 small farms across lutruwita/Tasmania, including ours. It’s helped us, and so many others, get ethical, seasonal, and regeneratively grown food directly into the kitchens of Tasmanians — without industrial middlemen, and with integrity at its core.
In its final year alone, the Collective moved over a quarter of a million dollars’ worth of produce, with more than 85% of sales going straight back to the hands that grew, raised, baked, and made it. No shareholders. No slick logistics giants. Just real food, grown with care, delivered with purpose.

So why are we stepping away?
Because even passion has limits when it's propped up by unpaid labour and fragile infrastructure. Despite the enormous success of the model and the hunger from customers for real food with a story, we’ve been running on fumes — a few volunteers, sporadic funding, and love. It’s not enough.

As Katt Ferrero, Chair of the TPC, said in the official release: “We are immensely proud of what TPC has achieved… but we’ve reached the point where we can no longer sustain operations.”
And yet — this is not the end. Not for Fork it Farm, and not for the bigger mission.

We’re taking a breather. A pause to reflect on what worked, what we loved, and how we can keep getting our produce to the loyal eaters who believe, as we do, that local, regenerative food systems are the future.
Because they are.

We’re inspired by the work of organisations like Sustainable Table, who understand that food isn’t just about calories or convenience. It’s about connection — to place, to planet, and to each other.

So what’s next?
For now, you’ll still find us at the farm, in the paddock, in the curing room, and by the fire. We’ll continue sharing stories, feeding our community, and looking for better ways to do it — with resilience, not burnout.

We’re exploring new systems, tools, and collaborations that might carry forward the spirit of the Tasmanian Produce Collective in new and more sustainable ways. We'll keep you posted.

To our fellow producers, collaborators, and especially the eaters who showed up, ordered, shared, and supported: thank you. You’ve proven there’s a real appetite for change.
And we’re not done feeding it.
— 🌀 Fork it Farm | Eat Curious. Farm Honest. Rest (when needed). www.forkitfarm.com.au