City Cousins

New Alert : Together City Cousins and Food Connect have contributed over $12,000 worth of organic and chemical free food to those less fortunate in Sydney! Read more on our Share the Harvest program.

Find out everything you need to know about City Cousins:

What is a City Cousin?

For The Heart

City Cousins are part of what makes Food Connect unique.

City Cousins are people and organisations passionate about fair, healthy and sustainable food. They are active or want to be active in promoting these values in their community.

In partnership with Food Connect, City Cousins make it easier for the average person to make a positive step towards a fairer, healthier and more sustainable life.

For the Mind

City Cousins provide a safe and cool location for us to drop off food boxes and keep them until subscribers arrive to collect them.

City Cousins receive the boxes during the day and are open for an hour in the afternoon/evening one night a week for subscribers to pick up their box.

No money is exchanged at the City Cousins and the basic admin is minimal. Empty boxes are kept and returned to the driver the following week.

The point of all this?  Reduce food miles and connect you to like-minded people in your area.

Current City Cousins

We have over 30 City Cousins around Sydney. They include:

  • Cafes
  • Schools
  • Office
  • Childcare centres
  • Neighbourhood Centres
  • Churches
  • Private homes

For a complete list of our City Cousins : Delivery Locations

Why become a City Cousin

City Cousins become a part of a national movement that really makes a difference and challenges the conventional food system. We would like to support and partner with people and organisations who are passionate about promoting fair, healthy and sustainable food systems (not just Food Connect!) in their community.

Great things our City Cousins are doing to engage with the community:

  • A sustainability themed movie screening and meals for sharing at the pickup, Lance from Chapel by the Sea, Bondi
  • Holding cooking demonstrations at public events using Food Connect produce, Selena from Elanora
  • Putting produce from their own garden for sharing in the swap basket, Isabel from Pymble.
  • Offering Chai tea, Social Justice Group from Dulwich Hill High School
  • Christmas drinks, Michael from Chippendale
  • Ordering flour, rice and oats in bulk to divvy up with subscribers, Selena from Elanora
  • Having a tasting night so subscribers can try out new products, Susanna from Kirribilli
  • Having bags on hand so that subscribers can leave their box behind, Cecilia from Coogee
  • Accepting vegetable scraps from subscribers to be composted, Bettina from Bondi Jn.

How will the partnership benefit me/my organisation?

The partnership increases the ability for both sides to raise each others’ profile and the number of like-minded people coming to each other.

As a City Cousin we will bring regular and ongoing sustainability and health minded people in your community to you. This is a great opportunity to build deep relationships and repeat interactions. You will receive $1 credit for every customer hosted each week. And if you run any community events we support our City Cousins with food donations from our Share the Harvest program.

We can also provide exposure to our network that includes (as of Feb 2012):

  • Website with around 6,000 visitor/month
  • Mailing list of over 2500 subscribers  (>35% open rate!)
  • Facebook of over 1500 fans
  • Invitations to events around Sydney with audiences of several thousand
  • Media opportunities

How to become a City Cousin

To become a City Cousin you need to be an organisation (preferably) or individual that:

  • has common values
  • has a focus on health and/or sustainability
  • has a common customer base or, if you are an individual, a good network of like-minded people in your area.
  • sees value in Food Connect bringing regular visitors to you
  • is in a convenient and visible location
  • is excited about interacting with progressive people in your community
  • can create a welcoming environment for subscribers and a suitable space (dry, cool with easy access) to receive and store boxes.
  • is able to meet with subscribers for the one hour opening window. Engage with them on Fair Food issues and build connections between the subscribers.
  • is able to spend as little as 30mins a week on basic admin
  • is willing to promote the service to your networks
  • is committed to having at least 10 subscribers/week

If you’d like to become a City Cousin please fill in a quick form : Register to be a City Cousin

For more information on how we establish a partnership, build your community and ongoing advocacy : Partnerships