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Floriade 2011 - From The Pantry:

This year the theme of Floriade is A Feast for the Senses.  Apart from the visual stimulation from the superb gardens, this year there also is From The Pantry with back-to-back cooking demonstrations and Slow Food Canberra is well represented.
 www.floriadeaustralia.com has the program for the demonstrations starting on the 18th September.
On the 4th October the Bush Goddess is demonstrating how to bake delicious items without cane sugar and wheat flour. There are so many alternatives available which can happily substitute for the addictive and unhealthy substances so prevalent in foods today so please come and taste the results.


Corinbank Garden Party and Slow Food Banquet: October 15, 2011

The Corinbank Music Festival is on again in February 2012 and, to announce the bands, there is a free concert at the Australian National Botanic Gardens on Saturday 15th October.
As well - and this is the delicious part - a Slow Food banquet is being prepared by Kim de Poorter and myself using very local produce.
Bookings for the banquet are likely to sell very quickly and are available at www.corinbank.com and click on the Garden Party link.


The Scots College - Sustainable Agriculture Forum: 24th August 2011

The Students Sustainability Committee decided that agriculture is this year's theme and invited me to provide organic morning and afternoon smokos for students, teachers and guests.
I had superb assistance from my son, Andy and three of his friends [Year 10] and really enjoyed hearing them discuss with such knowledge and passion different foods, what their mothers do and how they crave to go home and have good old home cooking.  They all really appreciate the simplicity and joy of wandering through their gardens and picking fruits and vegetables to munch on.
The evening Forum was hosted by Old Boy Cam McKellar with former Scots students Tony Coote [Mulloon Creek Natural Farms], Scott McCalman and Tony Hamilton; Rhonda Daly [whose husband, Bill and son James attended Scots] and me on the stage.  We all gave a presentation then answered questions from the very knowledgeable audience composed in equal parts by students and adults.
This was a great event and congratulations to Rob Heritage, Senior Teacher in Design and Technology and the Students Sustainability Committee.

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY THROUGH FARMER SOLIDARITY

VISIT TO BRISBANE, Food Connect and meeting representatives from LA VIA CAMPESINA www.viacampesina.org

I was fortunate to attend a workshop on the 27th and 28th June 2010 organised by the Food Connect Foundation to meet La Via Campesina representatives from Japan, Timor Leste, Indonesia and South Korea.  In total 65 people attended with people coming from Hobart, the Atherton Tablelands, western Queensland, NSW and Victoria and, of course, Canberra.  We also had a hook-up with Nettie Webb from Canada, one of the founders of La Via Campesina so this was a really internationa gathering.

The issue- Food Sovereignty through Farmer Solidarity - is pertinent anywhere farmers are growing foods with corporate agricultural interests attempting to crowd out and close down family farming enterprises and small operations.

The prinicapal objectives of La Via Campesina will resonate with farming family enterprises across Australia to develop solidarity and unity among small farmer organisations in order to promote -

  • gender parity and social justice in fair economic relations;
  • the preservation of land, water, seeds and other natural resources;
  • food sovereignty; and
  • sustainable agricultural production based on small to medium sized producers.
One of the shared situations between the farmers from LVC at the workshop, Nettie Webb from Canada and farmers in Australia is the relentless onslaught of Monsanto as they arrogantly continue to spread their genetically engineered seeds across all continents.  Monsanto view farmers as end-users for their patented products and continue to promote them in spite of consumers LOUDLY indicating they will not buy them.
However, the insidious spread of volunteers [seeds which are spread by wind, birds, vehicles, boots and animals] across the landscape are contaminating other crops so much that, in western Canada, it is now impossible for certified organic croppers to retain their accreditation.
Only last week, [June 2010] the CSIRO announced they are conducting field trials of GE wheat and barley in NSW and WA in spite of vast resistance from conusmers for these products.  At this stage, there is no market at all for these products yet these patented seeds are being grown........for whom?

Gene Ethics  www.geneethics.org.au and the Network of Concerned Farmers www.non-gm-farmers.com are two very important organisations committed to educating the community as to the implications of using GE products and provide a wealth of information on this contentious and nonsenical issue.
Ask your local members of parliament  why they continue to allow Monsanto, Syngenta and Bayer CropScience to peddle these seeds in spite of continuous protestations of consumers.

The recently formed Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance is gathering momentum as an influential voice in the debate on continuous supplies of nourishing foods, sometimes known as 'food security'.  There are so many underlying issues which need to be identified and individually appraised.  At present, the multi-national 'food' manufacturers have the ears of government as they present their plans to control the food systems.  However, there are other, more delicious forces at work.......