Following the overwhelming success of two events that attracted over 400 change-makers, join us for our third Espresso Martinis + Impact event! It will be an evening of espresso martinis and thoughtful dialogue in the social impact space.

Panel topic: The Case For Ethical Eating

You are what you eat, or so the saying goes. So how can you make food choices that align with your personal values?

Many people feel overwhelmed when they realise how much suffering and injustice goes into making our food.

Whether it’s animal abuse, exploitation of workers, lack of nutrition, environmental devastation, or all of the above there are plenty of reasons to think more carefully about what you put into your body.

So, what’s the most ethical diet? Come along to watch an incredible panel featuring leaders from the space delve into the answers.

What is Espresso Martinis + Impact?

Vollie, Pro Bono Australia and Nexus Australia present "Espresso Martinis + Impact" 🍸 An event series that brings together Melbourne's two favourite things... espresso martinis and that burning desire to make the world a better place.

Ticket price includes an espresso martini on arrival, grazing table, and drinks throughout the night.

The night:

6.00pm - 6.30pm
Drinks + appetisers

6.30pm - 8.00pm
Panel discussion

8.00pm - 9.00pm
Networking

Moderator:

Kirsten Larsen

Kirsten Larsen is the co-founder and a director of the Open Food Network – a global network community of independent producers, food hubs and software developers building open source platforms and tools for a stronger, fairer food system. She is also an Honorary Fellow at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute (MSSI), following 12 years as the food systems research and partnerships manager at MSSI and the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab in the School of Design at University of Melbourne. Her most recent project there is FoodPrint Melbourne – focused on Melbourne’s foodbowl. Kirsten and her partner Serenity Hill are currently establishing a land trust and farming collective to regenerate and revegetate farmland in NE Victoria, starting with 400 acres in Warrenbayne.

Panel:

Thomas King

Thomas King is the founder and CEO of Food Frontier. He is a social entrepreneur, international speaker and future food specialist who has been recognised as one of Australia’s most accomplished young pioneers. Over the last decade, Thomas has driven initiatives in food, environmental conservation and poverty alleviation across five continents, leading to him being named Young Australian of the Year VIC in 2015. Realising the limitations of industrial livestock production to sustainably feed the global population into the future, Thomas founded Food Frontier in April 2017 to support industry and government in championing alternative proteins to create a more diversified, sustainable and future-proof food supply. He was made a Myer Innovation Fellow in 2019.

Tammi Jonas

Former vegetarian academic Tammi Jonas is resident meatsmith at Jonai Farms, where she and her family raise pastured heritage-breed Large Black pigs and cattle, and transform the meat into a range of fresh cuts, smallgoods, charcuterie and salumi in their on-farm butcher’s shop. Jonai Farms is a paddock to paddock CSA (community-supported agriculture). Their livestock are only fed so-called “waste” – surplus, damaged, or unwanted produce from other food and agriculture systems in Victoria, creating a net ecological benefit by diverting many tonnes of organic waste from landfill, and exiting the fossil-fuel-intensive model of segregating feed production from livestock farming. Tammi is also president of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA), promoting everyone’s right to access nutritious and culturally-appropriate food grown in ethical and ecologically-sound ways, and our right to democratically determine our own food systems. She is a regional leader for the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC). She is an editor and co-author of Farming Democracy: Radically transforming the food system from the ground up (2019).

Dr Peter Johnston PhD

Originally from Dunedin, New Zealand, Dr Peter Johnston PhD became exclusively plant-based in 1991 after reading John Robbins’ book Diet for a New America whilst employed in Montreal, Canada as a post-doctoral research fellow. He has developed and runs a workplace-based program known as The Wholefood Solution where staff receive intensive support to go whole food plant-based for three weeks – a first for Australia! He also runs a nutrition private practice: Perfect Human Food Consulting, offering individual consultations, workplace training, residential reboot programs and public speaking. Peter has spent the last 15 years working in health promotion / community development in local government settings. Peter has a voracious interest in the latest research and developments in plant-based nutrition. This includes the area of food and environment and Peter lectures part time in this area at local universities. He is advisory council member for Doctors for Nutrition.

Check out the video from the first event to see what's in store:

Event partners:

Vollie (https://www.vollie.com.au/)

Vollie's vision to see the worlds biggest problems solved through skilled volunteering. Vollie's mission is to advance volunteering in Australia and around the world, applying it to the digital age, and providing modern day professionals with meaningful opportunities to give back. Vollie is an online volunteering marketplace that connects individuals and businesses with causes they care about, driving meaningful and lasting change. To drive your business's next social impact initiative with Vollie, click here: HERE

Pro Bono Australia (https://probonoaustralia.com.au/)

Pro Bono Australia is one of the country’s best known social businesses. Since 2000 we have provided news, jobs, education, skilled volunteering opportunities and other resources to support purpose-driven organisations to maximise their impact. We are the number one media service for Australia’s social economy, with over one million people using our services annually. To join our community of 60,000 subscribers and receive free social sector news delivered to your inbox twice a week, click here.

Nexus Australia (https://nexusglobal.org/australia/)

We are a network of young philanthropists, social entrepreneurs and impact investors catalysing change in Australia and the world. We do this through a BUILD, LEARN, SHARE and CREATE strategy: BUILD a common understanding, LEARN from each other’s perspective, SHARE ideas and lessons learned in solving problems and CREATE ways to solve challenges.