Russ Grayson

Russ Grayson has a background in journalism and in aid work in the South Pacific. He has been editor of an environmental industry journal, a freelance writer and photographer for magazines and a writer and editor of training manuals for field staff involved in aid and development work with villagers in the Solomon Islands.

During the 1990s he worked with the development NGO APACE as project manager for the Kastom Garden Programme in the Solomon Islands and for a metals recycling project based in Lae, PNG. After the closure of APACE, Russ joined colleagues from the agency in the private development organisation, TerraCircle, to continue support for the Solomon Island projects which by then had become independent.

Russ and a few others started a small Sydney-based team to successfully stimulate public and local government interest in community food gardens as a means to rekindling a sense of place and community in our suburbs, to improve nutrition and as a focus for community development work.

He editied and provided content for the book Getting Ready, aimed at people interested in working in overseas aid, and is author of Blue Seas and Bush Gardens and a book on setting up community food gardens. He is presently producing online copy for the Australian Community Foods website.