Peninsula Fresh Organics

Wayne and Natasha Shields’ organic vegetable farm, Peninsula Fresh Organics, is a rainbow of green leafy salad plants, carrots, broccoli, leeks and an assortment of other vegetables. The lifelong market gardeners have been awarded $500,000 through the Woolworths Organic Growth Fund, to invest in their organic farm and purchase new harvesting equipment.

Starting in 2009 with 3 acres and supplying produce at local farmers markets, the Shields’ have grown their farm to 200 acres and expanded operations to include another farm further north on the Murray River. They operate year-round juggling weekly planting and daily harvesting to ensure a consistent supply of seasonally grown, high quality organic produce.

With the money from Woolworth’s Organic Growth Fund the Shields plan to expand their farming operations and purchase new harvesting equipment, seeing it as an opportunity to move their business forward.

“We are so grateful for the backing of Woolworths through their Organic Growth Fund. We have plans to grow our business and with this money we are going to be able to do it much sooner than on our own” Wayne said.

“Woolworths has done an excellent job of supporting the Australian organic industry not only through their Organic Grown Fund, but by also providing valuable shelf space for organic produce, so as growers we have avenues to supply produce and consumers have somewhere to buy it” according to Wayne.