Many of you may be unaware of the person behind the businesss and social media posts. Time to meet the owner! My name is Emma, and I own and operate Twist and Sprout. It started as a market stall in the local area a couple of years ago, and last year I decided to take the plunge and set up a physical shop in Rochester.
I grew up in southern NSW, on the Murray. I spent about a decade in Melbourne, studying maths and economics, before moving back to the country several years ago. I landed in Rochy last year, just a few weeks before the flood. I live here with my husband and daughter.
About 7 years ago, a small group of friends and I got the idea to start an eco village. With no money and no idea of how to do this, nothing happened out of it. But a seed was planted in my mind. We knew that the current way of doing things was leading us down a path of destruction. The idea stuck with me, although it morphed away from necessarily building an eco village. We called the collection of ideas and projects, Sprout Village.
I now run the Sprout Village website and social media pages with the aim to help people understand the connections between the myriad of environmental and economic challenges we currently face. I care deeply about helping humanity get through its toughest challenge yet - the overshoot of many ecological limits that our species has caused. Our lives in the future will necessarily be very different than the luxurious and wasteful societies we have created over the last century.
Twist and Sprout is the first real project that has come out of Sprout Village. Plastic packaging and animal agriculture are two massive industries that cause devastation to soil, air, water and wildlife. By opening a vegan zero-waste shop, I am able to help people remove both of those items from their own lives.
Opening Twist and Sprout has alleviated some of my feelings of worry and hopelessness about the future of our planet, because I'm doing what I can to help, and meeting so many people who want to do the same. If you have similar feelings to me, know that you are not alone. Pop into the shop - I'm always keen to chat about all things food, environment, economics, and community. And bring your containers to refill while you're at it :)
With love for nature and the future,
Emma.
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