Josie Cox : Rural Women’s Day Feature
As a result of the SQNNSW Innovation Hub Indigenous Women's Food and Fibre workshop hosted in Toowoomba on the 4th of September, participant Josie Cox was invited to be included in The Pandaemonium Paper’s Rural Women’s Day interview series. Josie’s interview was published to a national audience of over 100,000 people.
One focus on the Indigenous Women’s Food and Fibre program is to amplify and celebrate the work of women developing native food businesses that contribute to more resilient ecosystems, Josie’s inclusion in this series is a fantastic example of that coming to fruition.
This is shared here with permission from The Pandaemonium Paper’s Editor in Chief, Alice Armitage.
WORDS & IMAGES BY ALICE ARMITAGE
In the lush folds of the Sunshine Coast hinterland, Josie and her husband Justin are building something deeply rooted in care — for land, for culture, and for community. Together, they run The Bush Nursery, a small family operation growing native and bush tucker plants to restore biodiversity and reconnect people with place.
What were you doing for work before you started The Bush Nursery?
My background is as an Aboriginal health practitioner, and I guess that correlates with growing bush tucker because a lot of our mob want to use a cultural, holistic approach to their health. My husband Justin is a carpenter so that comes in handy around the nursery as well!
Could you tell me a bit about your connection to rural Australia?
Most of my family are from St George, QLD and growing up out there, I guess I took it for granted. It wasn’t until I moved away that I really started to realise how beautiful and calming it was – we always had family around.
How did The Bush Nursery come about?
One of the reasons was to help rejuvenate our block here in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. While this land is pretty untouched, there is still a lot we can do to help it thrive. We saw a koala here recently so of course I needed to order some trees that the koalas around here like!
How do you think we can best celebrate rural women?
I immediately think about how often rural women are being forgotten about. We need to acknowledge them for everything that they do. So often in rural communities, women are the ones picking up the slack, doing the jobs that no one else is able to do. A nurse for example, in so many remote communities that one nurse is the only provider of health care that the community has – that makes her so special and so worthy of celebration.
Without celebrating them – showing just how much they contribute and how hard they work – how are we supposed to inspire the next generation?
How do you think your work with native plants relates to the larger agricultural industry?
Native plants are so important for biodiversity. It’s pretty simple, native plants do well because they are native. They’re naturally designed to thrive in the Australian environment. When we have native plants around, they bring all the bugs and the bees, the birds and the butterflies. All of those things help pollinate our fruits and vegetables – all contributing to the cycle that puts food on our plates.
You can find Josie’s full feature on Pandaemonium here.