Australia’s distinctive food culture

On February 5, 2012, in the nose, by pauline
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PROFESSOR Barbara Santich who initiated the graduate degree of Food Studies at the University of Adelaide is reported in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Living section that Australia does have a distinctive food culture, but it’s “about innovation and variation” rather than a particular set of recipes. According to Santich, people were relieved of the weight of tradition, they were liberated and said OK, nobody is going to die if I put sultanas in the scones. British cookbooks of the 1920s and 30s had three or four recipes for scones whereas Australian cookbooks of the same period had twenty. Read Lissa Christopher’s report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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Saving Australian farming

On January 31, 2012, in the nose, by pauline
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THIS year 2012 is The Australian Year of the Farmer and a dedicated web site has been set up so one can learn more about this not for profit, non political organisation. The Australian Year of the Farmer aims to reach out to every Australian to involve and bring together rural and urban communities, schools, farming organisation, suppliers and the producers. There will be year-long program of events across the nation.
Australia’s farmers should be recognised and celebrated: for feeding the nation and for leading the world in farming techniques and innovation. Read more.
Save Australian Farming organisation’s web site suggests we break the habit of doing our weekly shop at one of the two big supermarkets. Grow our own vegetables and schedule a weekend visit to one of the many Farmers Markets that are springing up around Perth.

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Small changes make a difference

On January 19, 2012, in the nose, by pauline
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CAROLYN Steel, architect and author of Hungry City used to think about the city through its built environments, now she thinks about it through food. She wants us to to see cities that have food at their centre. For Steel this is one of the most urgent tasks facing the potential 5 billion or 61 percent of people that will be living in cities by 2030.
‘Because we don’t see food’s influence, we leave it up to Coles and Woolworths and Tesco,’ says Steel. ‘We no longer value food.’. “Steel believes that this invisibility leads to unrealistic expectations of cheap food – and allows us to ignore the land and water degradation that result.
“80 percent of global trade in food now is controlled by just five multinational corporations. And if we look to the future, it’s an unsustainable diet.
Further information from Carolyn Steel’s “Hungry City” web site
Journalist Alan Saunders from ABC’s “By Design” poses the question “How can we change things? “Small changes make a difference, ‘sharing food, knowing where your food comes from and cooking it seasonally and locally. Listen to interview

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Arboreal Archaeology

On January 17, 2012, in the nose, by pauline
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FOR well over a decade the adventures of Livio and Isabella Dalla Ragione have been recorded by the Italian Press and in 2005 the New Yorker recorded their story of ‘fruit exploring’. The Dalla Ragiones were spurred on by knowledge that in Italy as in USA there is no Government repository with encyclopedic collections of apple and other fruit varieties of the countryside.
For decades after WW11 Livio had been searching out the forgotten fruits. To help preserve these varieties he bought a property on the border of Umbria & Tuscany and started growing them, and so an arboreal archaeologist was born.
Read article in Gastronomica of 2010.
The New Yorker article by John Seabrook “Renaissance Pears”, saving the favourite fruits of the Medici is also a fascinating story of the Dalla Ragione’s search and reintroduction of many of these fruits. Isabella believes that to help preserve these fruits it is necessary to create a market for them.
The Earth report gives a compelling argument explaining why these ancients fruits should be nurtured and reestablished.
Anyone interested in visiting their property can find the directions on their web site.
In fruit palettes there is an interview in the series Eating Art with Isabella.

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Preserving memory

On January 10, 2012, in the nose, by pauline
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BARBARA Massaad founding member of Slow Food Beirut, author of several books has just produced her third book in her journey of preserving memory. “Mouneh” is the winner of the Gourmand Cookbook 2010. She is also an international delegate of the Terra Madre Community. In her words, ‘the very best memories connect us to time and place and are often stimulated by the tastes and smells of childhood, but the reality for many of us is that we no longer enjoy such a strong connection to our culinary roots’.
Read further.

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The fifth quarter – waste not want not

On January 10, 2012, in the nose, by pauline
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THE fifth quarter or the quinto quarto is the offal of butchered animals. The offal generally amounts to about a fourth of the weight of the carcass. Until modern times the division of the cattle in Rome was made following this simple scheme, the first quarter was to be sold to the nobles, the second quarto to the clergy, the third to the bourgeoisie and the fourth quarto to the soldiers. The proletariat could only afford the entrails, which became known as the quinto quarter.
“Offal the fifth quarter” is said to be the only book currently in print dedicated exclusively to offal, drawing on recipes and traditions from all over the world
Read The Guardian review

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City agriculture

On December 7, 2011, in the nose, by pauline
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INDUSTRIAL sized roof top garden planned for Berlin, this massive 7000 square metre former factory roof is earmarked for a sustainable garden producing both fish and vegetables for local residents. This could be a model for future city farms. Read further

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Food sovereignty versus food security

On November 28, 2011, in the nose, by pauline
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WHAT is the difference?
Food security simply aims to ensure that people have sufficient
food to eat. It is not concerned about how this food
is produced, nor the means by which people might
attain this fundamental right. By contrast, food
sovereignty requires not just that everyone is properly
fed, but that the food system that feeds us is just and
sustainable.
Read further from the World Development Movement’s campaign on the speculation of food.

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Foodbank expands school programme

On November 27, 2011, in the nose, by jamie
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FOODBANK WA regional strategy team member and Slow Food Perth committee member Stephanie McFaull tells us that Foodbank is taking its mission of ‘An Australia Without Hunger’ one step further. It is expanding its nutrition education and food skills programmes statewide. ‘Not only is the charity providing direct food relief to those most disadvantaged, it is also facilitating school, adult and train-the-trainer workshops in regional and remote WA,’ Stephanie says. ‘Participants in Foodbank’s free Food Sensations programme are equipped with meal planning, purchasing and preparation skills via hands-on cooking classes. The regional team of two has travelled nearly 25,000 kilometres and delivered the Food Sensations programme to 1,688 students, 55 parents and trained 38 educators over the last six months.’ For more information about the programme follow this link.

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Feeding the 5000K feedback

On November 25, 2011, in the nose, by pauline
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AN email of appreciation from James Porter of “Toms Feast” was received thanking us for blogging about food waste and Feeding the 5000K. Thomas Hunt of Tom’s Feast was one of the chefs involved and has compiled some recipes, using food waste that was cooked for this event. Read further and about his article Life of a Loaf.

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