SUSTAINABLE Melbourne.com is supported by the Victorian Government through the sustainability fund and is a network and communication system to deliver information, to connect people and projects and to accelerate the city’s transformation into a sustainable city. Many movements are involved in this project amongst which is Slow Food Melbourne’s Farmers Market which helps to contribute to their evolving sustainable city. Sustainable Rotterdam which has quickly become a model for creating a window on the social, cultural and design activities is often a model used by cities around the world. Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainabilty at Curtin University tells us in his book on sustainable ecosystems how modern city dwellers are largely detached from the environmental effects of their daily lives. The sources of the water they drink, the food they eat, and the energy they consume are all but invisible, often coming from other continents.

HUNTER Gatherer food came in many forms from both animals and plants and was eaten raw, cooked or preserved for later. The Hunter Gatherer Club will have its inauguaral dinner at Muldoon Farms at Bungendore in late March. Food will be collected from the wild, vegetables such as wild purslane, chicory and mushrooms along with venison and yabbies will be served. Deborah Newell, founder of the Hunter Gatherer Dinner Club; Professor Neil Mann, nutritionist, RMIT University speak on the virtues of eating a hunter gatherer style diet on Bush Telegraph with Michael Cathcart.

REPORTED on ABC news on feeding Australia, journalist Brigit Anderson reports on the seasonal aspect of food, food miles and how buying food out of season shows how disconnected we have become from the land. Eating food out of season is having a huge environmental impact, read further from the news article

Food labelling hearings will be held in Perth on Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th March, for further information follow this link. The State opposition agricultural spokesman Mick Murray is calling on the State Government to introduce labelling on products containing genetically modified food. See ABC news Monday 15th March

IN 2006 Princeton University ran a forum on food, ethics and the environment. These stimulating forums were recorded live and can be seen at this link from Princeton University, scroll down to November 16th & 17th 2006. Slow Food Perth is intending to hold a forum on food issues at the end of August 2010.

KIRSTEN Larsen, an expert in sustainable food system at the University of Melbourne, reports in the latest Ecomagazine January 2010 that if we change our understanding of cities and see them as productive not consumptive spaces, cities will be able to feed themselves in the future. Read more from this issue which includes diverse information about what is successfully happening now.

MATTHEW Evans former restaurant critic and now farmer in Tasmania includes on his web site an article he wrote years ago about the milk from Billawara Dairy in Denmark, Western Australia. Matthew’s interesting and evocative journey from chef to restaurant critic to farmer can be followed in the SBS program “Gourmet Farmer”. His philosophy of savouring and appreciating good flavours in food and the sharing and sustainability of food makes his web site a delicious read.

INTERVIEWED on the 2nd March in Bush Telegraph Richard Stirzaker explains the scientists method of growing food especially in its relation to water. Richard is also interviewed on the CSIRO about food production for future populations and appears on ABC Canberra Stateline talking about how he and his family shaped his overgrown backyard into a suburban food bowl.

CORBY Kummer, journalist and author, writes in detail in the “Atlantic” about Walmart’s’ new program called “Heritage Agriculture” This will encourage farms within a day’s drive of one of its warehouses to grow crops that now take days to arrive in trucks. In many cases the crops once flourished in the places where Walmart is encouraging their revival, but vanished because of Big Agriculture competition. Also reported in his article is the Department of Agriculture’s in USA new policy of “Know your Farmer, Know your Food”

ABC Landline News today, 19th February 2010 reported that Oils ain’t Oils, The Australian Olive Oil Industry is taking a stand against international oils masquerading as extra virgin olive oil. To find out more about the olive oil’s industry code of practice and taste testing watch Landline this Sunday 21st February.