There are seeds, creeds and feeds on Norman Palumbo’s agenda as he invites the community to join him in a conversation about fair trade this week.
Mr Palumbo is the owner and mastermind of Just Planet, a niche cafe in the heart of Sunbury that supports humanitarian causes and is renowned for its backyard produce.
“There are only a few things that bring people together: music, art and food,” he said.
So he decided to “bring people together” with his vine-ripe heirloom tomatoes, fresh herbs and fair-trade coffee.
Six years ago, Mr Palumbo set up a shop inspired by his childhood.
“When I was six, I was collecting aluminium cans to buy a bike,” he said.
“I [heard about] the Ethiopian crisis and decided to split the money and donate some to Ethiopia.”
That was the beginning of a journey to philanthropy for Mr Palumbo, who now tackles political, social and environmental issues at a grassroots level.
What started as an informal seed-swapping saga and passionate conversations about fair-trade has been transformed into the Chat about Fair Food project – a council-based initiative aimed at encouraging locals to get serious about the environment.
“The planet is in a mess and we have to do something about it,” Mr Palumbo said. “We don’t tread on the planet lightly; we trample all over it.”
He’s inviting the community to head over to the informal forum from 6-8pm on Wednesday, August 13, at 37 O’Shanassy Street, Sunbury.
For more information, call Mr Palumbo on 9740 3106.
