FareShare’s new flagship Dingley Farm aims to help meet the increasing need for food relief by tripling the volume of vegetables we can grow.
The new farm – in the Naarm/Melbourne suburb of Dingley Village – was celebrated with an official opening on 9 April 2026.
FareShare is a part of SecondBite, so the opening brought together teams from across the organisation and the many supporters who have made the new farm possible.
SecondBite Garden Program Manager Isabel Menssink leads the Dingley Farm and said it would significantly boost the amount of produce they could grow.
The FareShare farms in Clayton South, Moorabbin and Abbotsford are already growing more than 100,000 kgs of food every year, but with the addition of the new Dingley Farm the team hopes to increase growth to more than 300,000 kgs of veggies a year.
“With this farm, we’ll be able to triple our production – meaning more fresh, nutritious food flowing directly into FareShare’s kitchens, and into meals for people who need them most. At a time of increasing food insecurity, that really matters.”
SecondBite Garden Program Manager Isabel Menssink
SecondBite CEO Daniel Moorfield said the increased produce from the new Dingley Farm would allow the FareShare kitchens to ramp up production of meals for people in need.
“The FareShare kitchens are already producing around 3.2 million meals a year. With the additional produce grown on the new farm we hope to increase meal production by another million meals a year.”
SecondBite CEO Daniel Moorfield
The FareShare meals created with the produce from Dingley Farm – and any extra produce not used in the FareShare kitchens – will be shared with people doing it tough through a wide network of charity partners around Australia.
Official opening celebrates farm supporters
The official opening of the Dingley Farm was a chance to bring together the many people who helped get the project off the ground.
KS Environmental have provided crucial support for the new farm, supplying the land and important infrastructure for the site.
The Reece Foundation have also been big supporters of the project and The Reece Irrigation Design Studio worked with Aqua Pro Irrigation and East Plumbing Co to deliver vital farm infrastructure.
“This farm has been built through collaboration: from the vision of Paul Smith at KS Environmental, to the support of AUSVEG farmers like Paul Gazzola and Sam Taranto, and the many partners, trades, volunteers and donors who have helped bring it to life.”
SecondBite Garden Program Manager Isabel Menssink
Celebrating the first harvest at the volunteer-powered Dingley Farm
The new Dingley Farm has been designed from the ground up, using FareShare’s 10 years of experience growing veggies with the support of dedicated volunteers.
The staff and volunteers at the new farm recently celebrated their first major harvest, with a bumper crop of Greystone pumpkins that were displayed at the official opening.
These pumpkins will be put to good use in the FareShare kitchen and shared with people in need through our network of charity partners.
We thank the FareShare volunteers for their dedication and support of the new farm and look forward to seeing many new faces join the volunteer team to help bring in more great harvests.
How you can support the new Dingley Farm
Become a Dingley Farm volunteer and help us grow food for people in need.
Make a financial donation to FareShare.
