Sofia Carvajal

PROJECT: HURSTVILLE COMMUNITY GARDEN

Elected president of Sydney’s Hurstville Community Garden just two years after becoming a member (“I just wanted to learn to grow tomatoes”), Sofia Carvajal has soared past her original goal for her mentorship. “I wanted 20 per cent engagement at the garden from the wider community,” she says. “I started at zero, and I’m at 30 per cent now.” Her mentor is Ronni Kahn, the founder of food rescue organisation Ozharvest. “She’s got a lot of wisdom to share,” Carvajal says. But so too do Carvajal and her team. “We teach people how to produce food, which is a big thing. Even if it’s just a pot of tomatoes on your balcony, that’s local, fresh, seasonal food. It’s more nutritious than anything from the shops and it’s so delicious that it’s addictive. And it’s one of the best things you can do to mitigate the effects of climate change.”

That’s the “gardening” side of a community garden, but the “community” element is crucial, too. “Ninety per cent of our gardeners are retired people from the Chinese community – they’ve been growing their own food their entire lives and have so much knowledge,” she says. “They’ve really taught me the gardening you can’t find in books. We’ve got a lady from India teaching us how to make chilli sauce using ingredients from her plot, and we had another program with people making kimchi. The garden is really a hub of sharing knowledge and culture.”

And it’s had a big effect on Carvajal’s life. “I always thought, ‘The environment... somebody should really do something about that.’ It wasn’t until I got older that I realised that somebody should be me.” The garden and her mentorship have led to a career change: formerly a multimedia producer, she’s now looking for a job in sustainability. “If ever there was a time to go into sustainability, it’s now,” she says.