He was a Director of Permaculture International Limited from 1990 to 1996, a non-profit organisation promoting sustainable agriculture. He was the managing editor of the Permaculture International Journal from 1990 to 1994 during which time he travelled to a number of countries around the world investigating the problems of agriculture and their possible solutions.

 

From 1994 to 1999 he practised as a commercial organic farmer, including the establishment of the Challenge City Farm in Lismore, aimed at demonstrating the benefits of bringing food production back into urban areas.

 

From 2000 to the present he has been collaborating with Hogan Gleeson in researching the viability of establishing commercial-scale organic farms in urban areas that aim to ‘close the nutrient loop’ - providing urban people with more nutritious food while also recycling waste nutrients back into the food production system. The result of this  research has been the patented ‘Ecocity Farm’.