Backyard orchard bearing fruit for remote residents

Growing up and living in the Cape York community of Weipa, the 21-year-old is familiar with the challenges faced by remote residents trying to access fresh produce. 

"In Brisbane you can expect to pay $4 for a sweet potato, on Cape York we pay upwards of $13 for a single sweet potato," the Wiradjuri man told AAP.

"My fiance and I, our weekly grocery bill is $350 for two people, imagine what entire families are paying."

But it's not only the cost. Fresh produce endures a days-long barge trip from Cairns before hitting the supermarket shelves in Weipa.

Mr Clements said this reduces the shelf life of food and the barge can be impacted by monsoonal rains and cyclones, leaving the community without fresh fruit and vegetables altogether. 

"Typically you only get two or three days out of most fruit," he said.

The link between this lack of access to a variety of fresh foods and the health of people in the country's remote regions is not lost on the young chiropractic student.

"It's no secret Indigenous communities and especially remote Indigenous communities suffer from far higher levels of chronic diseases, preventable deaths and deaths linked directly to nutrition," he said.

So he transformed his own backyard into an orchard. 

There's a whopping 73 kinds of fruit, herbs, nuts and vegetables to be precise, with Mr Clements already seeing harvests, including pomegranate, pineapple, banana and guava.

"We have a very small backyard, we are quickly running out of room and I'm constantly building new garden beds," he said.

"But with that we've proved that, even though remote Australia is often dismissed as desolate, in fact we can grow in abundance."

Now he's proved he can grow plenty for himself and his partner, Mr Clements says the aim is to get an orchard in every community across the Cape.

Next on the list is the nearby community of Napranum, where he's working with the local Aboriginal Shire Council to establish an orchard.

Mr Clements said he'd also like to see agricultural and gardening skills taught in schools.

"Talking with the grandmas around Weipa, it's very evident that when they were younger, agriculture was a big thing," he said.

"Everyone grew a certain amount of food to sustain your family."

Mr Clements said the issue of access to fresh produce isn't unique to Cape York and he hopes to expand the idea to remote communities across the country. 

While he said he'd need government support to do this, it was important that each orchard was community-led and driven. 

"By helping communities rekindle agricultural knowledge, by helping them to set up localised food systems ... you're treating the root cause, rather than the effects," he said.

"At the end of the day what we're trying to do is empower communities and improve the health of these communities."

Australian Associated Press