Get Carrot Away This Easter – and look to the Scenic Rim for all the local flavours

After taking a wrong turn earlier this week, the Easter Bunny has turned up in Queensland’s carrot capital, the Scenic Rim, ready to stake her claim on the 600 million carrots that will be grown later this year. Yep, the region is the carrot capital of the country!

Organised by peak industry body Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG), carrots are the second commodity (following last month’s pineapple plantation in Brisbane CBD) to be highlighted as part of a year-long awareness campaign of the state’s 100+ various fruit, vegetable, and nut crops.

“We want our Queensland growers to feel proud of the work they do to feed the world,” QFVG CEO Rachel Chambers said.

“The Year of Horticulture uses these activations to “Celebrate, Educate and Advocate” all things fresh produce. 

“The industry is so often overlooked and taken for granted that we needed a year to really focus on how fabulous and necessary the production of food really is.”

While it’s not carrot season until June when the Scenic Rim hosts the nationally famed EAT LOCAL MONTH, over Easter there’s going to be a bit of a disruption to holiday makers, campers, and farmers in the Moogerah area – as the Easter Bunny surveys some carrot growing sites!

(Of course, the ONLY bunny that’s welcome in the region is the Easter Bunny, she has a special access pass on the promise she won’t tell her relatives, because they are all banned!)

This will be the first year that Eat Local Week has become Eat Local Month, with the event to be celebrated across the full month of June. It’s Australia’s most authentic paddock-to-plate, food and farming experience which shines the light on the farmers, growers, producers, artisans, chefs, and creators in the region, and on the spectacular local and seasonal produce.

When Eat Local Week started in 2011, 10 events were staged, attended by a few hundred people. In 2014, the program featured 80 events with 15,000 attendees and last year, in 2022, there were 125 events and almost 40,000 attendees with a program that stretched from Beaudesert to Beechmont, Kerry to Kalbar, and Mount Alford to Mount Tamborine! And this year, it’s a month!

A significant economic driver for the region, the event pumps $2 million into the region, and plays an important role in placing farmers, growers, and producers centre stage.

After this flying visit by the Easter Bunny, the region is back to preparing for this huge event!

The Year of Horticulture is a year when:

• Growers are treated like heroes, revered for being the people who proudly grow the food humans rely on.

• Consumers understand the work and costs that go into producing one piece of fruit, veg or nut.

• Everyone in the supply chain is finally acknowledged and appreciated for their involvement in food.

• Regions remember their history and indeed their future is often linked to horticulture.

• Government further comprehends the essential and complex economy of growing food.

• The peak body strongly represents horticulture as the most important industry in the world.

Join thousands of consumers, farmers, and foodies as they begin to explore the wonderful world of horticulture. Keep your eyes peeled for further activations across the state. We are going to have fun all year round. You’ll never guess where we will pop/hop up next.