Nourishing Matters to Chew On Nourishing Matters to Chew On

Hello! so happy to be back with a very special episode...podcast of the Food Systems Transformations panel discussion at the Transformative Partnerships for a Better World Conference, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, 11-14 July 2023.

A great transformations community event held and shared across Sydney, Prague, Portland

Apologies! A 'long' drought between eps. But WHAT a fabulous opportunity to dig and dive back into nourishing topics and themes with Associate Professor Dana Cordell, Dr Federico Davila, Research Principal Fiona Berry and Anja Bless. 


Dr Federico Davila is a human geographer and Research Director at UTS-ISF specialising in the governance and transformation of food systems. He has conducted much of his work in the Pacific region, analysing the impacts of COVID-19 on food systems, labour markets and mobility
Associate Professor Dana Cordell is a Research Director at the UTS-ISF where she leads the Food Systems research group. She leads and undertakes collaborative research projects on sustainable food and phosphorus futures in Australia, Vietnam, Malawi, Europe, Sri Lanka, and the USA
Anja Bless is a PhD candidate with the UTS-ISF where she is researching the politics of regenerative agriculture. Her focus areas are environmental politics, food politics and policy, and sustainable food systems
Fiona Berry is a Research Principal at UTS-ISF conducting research into Food Systems and project managing research across a variety of disciplines. Fiona is passionate about building communities through peri-urban and regional agriculture, local food systems and democratic community participation.

 

 

 
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Listen in, be inspired by Gerry Turpin, a Mbabaram Traditional Owner who is 'as far as he knows' the first fully trained Indigenous Ethnobotanist in Australia who has helped seed and lead groundbreaking, research that bridges two worlds and empowers Elders and communities to research, record, protect and derive value from their plant and cultural knowledge and to share it in ways they want.

This is the final deep dive, long lens conversation for Nourishing Matters 2022. It's one that book ends the series since its inception in late 2019 when I was blown away by Gerry's keynote presentation at PULiiMA 2019 and the power of his work for culture, community, environmental and food sovereignty. 

Learning how to love, see and better care for country and our unique plants and biodiversity by drawing upon First People's knowledge in dialogue with Western science is something many of us yearn for in our changing climate, quest for Reconciliation and urgent desire to protect all 'plants, animals and ecosystems' that are precious. Gerry and his team are leaders in this critical space: they build and record Indigenous Biocultural Knowledge (IBK) with Elders and their communities and enact protocols, research methods and pathways that enable and ensure that plant research is guided by Traditional Knowledge holders with their full, informed and prior consent.  

Gerry is the Senior Ethnobotanist at the Tropical Indigenous Ethnobotany Centre (TIEC) at James Cook University in Cairns. Characteristically modest, he is however  rightly recognised nationally and internationally for what he does, inculcates, and is enabling for a more sustainable, regenerative future. 

TIEC is a partnership between Traditional Owners, the Queensland Government (including the Queensland Herbarium), CSIRO, James Cook University's Cairns Institute and the Australian Tropical Herbarium joint venture.  

Listen in and hear from Gerry about how his work has evolved and what his big dreams for the future are that include: 


to hold an International Indigenous Ethnobotanical Conference in Cairns - huge benefits for Northern Queensland and communities
to see the Nagoya Protocol ratified by the current Commonwealth Government, to enable stronger protection of Indigenous Biocultural Knowledge rights across all Australian States and Territories 
to secure more funds to assist him and the Tropical Indigenous Ethnobotany Centre to engage and employ more people to do the urgent work that needs to be done before more Elders and their plant and cultural knowledge passes ....

I first met Gerry in or around 2010 through my Remote Indigenous Gardens Network work.  At that time TIEC was newly established. Since then Gerry and his work have gone from strength to strength.

I am humbled and feel honoured to have watched the growth and impact of what Gerry does.  He is one of those quietly modest but amazing people who show and lead the way. Thank you Gerry, for what you do and for the quiet but steely spirit you share to guide how we might all change, add layers to the lens, and quietly support, act and do like you do to grow, protect and share good things ....

The Tropical Indigenous Ethnobotany Centre, JCU Cairns    https://www.tiec.org.au/

The Australian Tropical Herbarium   https://www.ath.org.au/

Since this interview was recorded, it has been announced that James Cook University will host a new Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures (CIEHF) – aiming to bring Indigenous and environmental histories to the forefront of land and sea management and Gerry and TIEC will be integral to that.  https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/releases/2022/november/new-$89m-national-research-centre-at-jcu

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This episode is all about clever, heart-filled research to improve food options, pleasures and wellbeing for aged people.  Many older people experience swallowing difficulties and that means they have limited food choices and what's offered to them may often be unappealing 'food blobs'. Dr Aarti Tobin and Dr Janne Beelen from CSIRO are passionate to help change that through their research to develop more attractive, delicious and nutritious options for people who experience swallowing difficulties, a condition that's known as dysphagia.

Listen in to hear from Aarti and Janne about their research to incorporate new high protein powders into new foods options, products and processes that incorporate 3D food printing, diagnostics and modelling - all to develop more attractive, nutritious and accessible options for the aged care sector and those they serve.

This is a great story that offers a warm invitation to food businesses and for purpose  innovators to get in touch and join the cause to help produce, scale and make available more attractive, nutritious foods for older people. 

It's a cause that resonates with previous Nourishing Matters conversations with:- 


Emma Coath, Rocket Seeder's - start-up business incubation programs, supporting people with bright ideas to develop business to tackle food waste and loss 
Dr Aarti Tobin & Dr Danyang Ying, research turn to vegetable and low value meat cuts into high value protein powders
Professor Nick Hopwood, SUCCEED supporting children who tube feed ...

Listen in to hear more ...and follow CSIRO below:  

Dr Aarti Tobin - Linked In 

Dr Janne Beelen  - Linked In 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/csirogram/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/csiro

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Emma Coath share's Rocket Seeder's story and the great work they do to mentor and support passionate people with great business ideas that can make a difference and have an impact. In this episode we zoom in to talk about food waste and food loss, about Rocket Seeder and how their business challenge and accelerator programs are helping grow the ecosystem and support people with bright business ideas to tackle the 7.2 million tonnes of food currently wasted each year in Australia. Listen in and hear about exciting startups such as Forkful, Whole and Sea Weedery. 

Australia has committed to halving food waste by 2030 - a target that aligns with the SDGs. As Emma shares there's a long way yet to go but also huge opportunities along the supply chain - for consumers and for innovators to tackle not only food waste, but also to turn food loss pre-farm gate into edible food: issues exacerbated by La Nina, COVID/workforce issues, damaged crops and more. 

Emma is the Managing Director of Rocket Seeder that's a nimble, innovative Australian organisation that supports startups to develop solutions to the world's biggest problems in the food and agriculture sector, including (but not limited to):


Innovation in on-farm efficiencies
Supply chain automation
Future food innovation
Reducing food loss and waste along the agrifood value chain

The solutions Rocket Seeder helps seed and support are aligned to United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — all done with passion and purpose, to build an ecosystem that will have a positive impact in Australia and beyond.  

There are lots of ways to get involved. If you've got a great idea or a small business underway, apply for one of Rocket Seeder's programs or sign up to become a business mentor or programs sponsor in 2023.

To learn more head to Rocket Seeders website @ www.rocketseeder.com

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Linked In 

Twitter

Facebook 

Instagram 

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Resharing this rich conversation with Paul Van Reyk (S2/Ep13) all about his excellent book True to the Land – A History of Food in Australia published in 2021. Great listening for a wet old weekend, our changing foodways & climate, & with so many fascinating insights about our rich, diverse food histories that include Chinese contributions since the gold rushes and more.

Why now? topical & connecting with recent Eps - Grazing Down the Lachlan, a curated foodie event that in '22 celebrated Chinese cuisine & bush foods from the region; and great conversation with Michael Claessens, Food In The Capital /Canberra Region Food Collaborative (...and the sensational Victualis Dinner I was lucky to get to ... am still savouring the delicious slow cooked beef with lilly pilly....so good). 

Paul is a food writer, a regular presenter at the Symposium of Australian Gastronomy, and is passionate about our food history and foodways. His wonderful book travels far and wide to tell the interwoven stories of the history of the food of Australia, spanning 65,000 years from its beginnings with the First Nations people and of the impacts of colonization on those foodways and people. It’s a fascinating story that shares tales and linkages to show how our foodways and change within them are closely interwoven with social, political, and immigration policies, twists and turns over time, as well as the influences of scientific and technological advances that together shaped and got us here to ‘Modern Australian’ food.  

With Michael Symons and others, Paul contributed to the first Symposium of Australian Gastronomy that was held in the early 1980s, and Michael’s book, One Continuous Picnic: A History of Eating in Australia (published in 1982) was, until now, the most comprehensive food history of Australia. Paul pays tribute to and builds upon the work of Michael and many other great chefs, food writers, and researchers. 

As Paul shares in conversation, a driving passion was to include more of the story of the foods of First Australians (and impacts on them), of migrant Australians, and of everyday women – oft-neglected –  in how our diverse food cultures and love for them evolved and is shared. And the environment, the land – and how true to it – our foodways have been and could be in the future is very close to mind and hand throughout this great book.        

“From millennia-old fish traps to television’s MasterChef Australia, by way of damper and mutton, lamingtons and Anzacs, True to the Land charts the evolution of Australian food and agriculture, acknowledging the contributions of the many cultures that make up contemporary Australia” 

Barbara Santich, Professor Emeritus, The University of Adelaide

True to the Land – A History of Food in Australia is available from Booktopia, Angus & Robertson, and Dymocks bookstores. 

Website/links

True to the Land:  https://www.booktopia.com.au/true-to-the-land-paul-van-reyk/book/9781789144062.html

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Listen in to the second part of my great conversation with Daryn McKenny, CEO of Miromaa Aboriginal Language and Technology about the work he and Miromaa do with First People's language centres, individuals, rangers and communities to help preserve and conserve their languages in Australia and internationally.

It's all about inspiring work Daryn has been doing for over twenty years, work that's set to grow and be amplified by the UN International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-2032. The Decade calls for urgent steps at national and international levels to revive and strengthen indigenous languages whose complex knowledges and the cultures they foster embed human rights and are key resources for good governance, peace building and sustainable development.

Daryn is a Gamilaraay and Wiradjuri man born on Awabakal country, where he lives and Founded the Miromaa Aboriginal Language and Technology Centre in 2002, with an initial focus to revive the Awabakal language and culture in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Lower Hunter Valley. Miromaa is an Awabakal word, meaning "Saved, to stop from loss" and that's what Daryn, his team and the technologies they've developed and freely share powerfully enable and 'do'.

Our conversation leads off with some of the highlights from the PULiiMA Indigenous Language and Technology Conference 2019, held during the International Year of Indigenous Languages in Darwin.

We then dig in to talk about Miromaa's technologies and the free services they offer. Technologies developed by Aboriginal people for Aboriginal people - unique, practical can do options that provide culturally safe, secure and easy ways for people to take action to conserve and preserve their languages. Check out the Miromaa website for impressive  testimonials and the map of where Miromaa are creating change internationally. I love the stories Daryn shares in our chat: about working with Santa Fe youth to support their Young Ancestors language projects; about how a Turkish teenage grandson contacted Miromaa for help to record his grandmother's rare and endangered Turkish dialect. 

Miromaa is a not for profit well worth supporting.

Listen through to hear Daryn's three call outs for support to help Miromaa grow their reach and impact (and get in touch with Daryn to support Miromaa!).


Technology and architecture upgrades to keep pace with growing needs and wants of communities;
App Development Support - so more people can use their pocket 'computers' - their phones - to record their languages, and
Team Capacity and Resources - to help meet the huge and growing community demand for Miromaa's support (time is of the essence to preserve and conserve languages 'now'!). 

As Daryn shares, protecting, knowing and using language is not just for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people - it's for all of us, wherever we're from, so that together we can better hear, see and care for country and this beautiful place we call home. 

Bravo Daryn. Thanks so much for sharing your passion and the Miromaa story. 

Learn more about Miromaa, partners, supporters and where they work; to contact Daryn; or to get involved via their website @ https://www.miromaa.org.au/

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