Growers markets are regular fixtures in towns and cities across the country, but there is a new kind of market that is gathering momentum.

And you don't need to bring your wallet to walk away with a basket load of fresh produce at a food swap. Instead people meet regularly to trade their homegrown produce.

"They bring whatever they're picking that they can spare, usually excess," said Paul McMurray, who with his wife Linda, started a group on the outskirts of Bega, on the New South Wales far south coast, more than eight years ago.

As well as stocking the pantry with "some really yummy stuff", Mr McMurray said he had made lifelong friends from the swap-meets.

"Lots of friends with skills that they are willing to share and they've passed on lots of assistance in developing our property," he said.

A typical food swap involves a tour of the host's garden, a chat over morning tea and of course, choosing from a table of goodies.

Paul McMurray says the Springvale Numbugga Food Swap supports people to grow their own food. ( ABC South East NSW: Peta Doherty )

Change in life plans

A shift from 'self-sustainable' to 'community-sustainable' is at the heart of the food-swap ethos and is what is attracting people to the area.

Marcin Janek-Morys and his wife Monika Morys are just one couple who have decided to settle in the Bega Valley after being introduced to the food-sharing community.

"Going to the first food swap was a completely new experience for us … it doesn't happen in Poland," Mr Janek-Morys said.

"We could see what people are growing in this part of the world and how easy it sometimes is to grow your own food."

Marcin Janek-Morys and Monika Morys found a community they didn't even know they were looking for. ( ABC News )

He said they had found a sense of community they did not even know they were looking for, and completely changed their life plan.

"At the beginning we thought we were going to have a normal life, living in a rented apartment and having a regular job — and now we dream about having a small farm and growing our own vegetables."

One of the pioneering food swaps started in Brogo in the Bega Valley nearly a decade ago, when people got talking about waste.

"There's a lot of excess that comes out of the garden at various times of the year and more than you can eat and more than you can process. But what do you do with it?" said Roger Bunyon, one of the founders of the Brogo food swap.

When the Brogo swap-meet was featured on the television series, River Cottage, Mr Bunyon started to hear about them popping up all over the country.

Meeting people

"What we quickly discovered was although it was great to come home with somebody else's produce and get rid of some of your own, what was more important was the sense of community-building among the people of the area.

"We found that people that came along in various years decided that from their visit they wanted to live in the area because this was the sort of community they wanted.

"The fact that there's a culture of community-building here, that was really important to us," said Deborah Gough, who moved to the far south coast with her partner four years ago.

"Food share was probably the way we met a lot of people," Dr Gough said.

Mr Bunyon said the most important element was the town email list that not only kept everyone in the loop about the next food swap, but had become a vital line of communication in a remote area.

Roger Bunyon is one of the pioneers of the food-swap movement. ( ABC South East NSW: Peta Doherty )

For Jan Reynolds, who lost her own garden in a bushfire in August, eating food grown on local properties has taken on a new significance.

"Just to know the love and care that's gone into growing the vegetables, and the fruits, and the flowers," she said, holding an armful of something she has been missing from the garden.

"I do love rhubarb and mine's all gone; everything was burnt and I miss my rhubarb."

Still, she did not turn up empty-handed.

"I brought some bulbs, some kind of flower, hidden under the ground they were safe, so that was my contribution today.