When residents on Christmas Island go to pick up fresh produce, it can be easy to spot signs of the 2,600-kilometre journey it has been on. "If you have had to order leafy greens or fragile fruit and vegetables there is a chance they will get squashed and bruised and be unusable upon arrival," cafe owner Casey McDonnell said.
The island's soil conditions and rugged terrain make it difficult to grow fresh produce, and has resulted in food being shipped or flown to the Indian Ocean Territory from Perth. While Ms McDonnell is grateful for services like air freight, she says it still has challenges.
"Your supplier may not have considered the waiting period from when they dispatch your delivery to when it actually arrives to the island, meaning that produce can be mouldy upon arrival," Ms McDonnell said. The island's challenges inspired a local initiative that provides locally grown produce to its supermarkets and restaurants.
The Green Space Tech hydroponic project is now producing about 100 kilograms of fruit and vegetables a week. The greenhouse set-up allows greater regulation of conditions. The focus has been on leafy greens, bok choy, pak choy and herbs, with some trial crops of tomatoes, cucumbers, mushroom, eggplant and strawberries.
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