It’s estimated that there are over 6,500 native food species in Australia – how many have you tried? You’ll probably get a chance to sample more, with the popularity of indigenous foods making it likely more will appear in restaurant menus and supermarkets in the future.
The Plummery sounds like a sprawling countryside property. Its garden beds grow an abundance of vegetables, with surrounding fruit and nut trees underplanted with shrubs, herbs and flowers. Bubblegum grape shades the house and there’s a greenhouse with bananas and babaco. A quail aviary sits by the side of the house and on the southern side are avocados, feijoas and a cherry guava. Yet all of this is contained on a 280m2 block in Melbourne’s inner city suburb of Northcote, at the home of permaculture designer Kat Lavers.
One morning a spelt pancake was transformed into a lion, and with that, the direction of Laleh Mohmedi’s life also changed. Whipping up breakfast for her young son Jacob, the Melbourne mum posted a photo of the arty creation to her Facebook page. Encouraged by her friends to start an Instagram account, Jacob’s Food Diaries was born.
Eight billion dollars. That’s the staggeringly high cost of edible food that Australians waste each year, according to Do Something’s recent Food Waste campaign. It’s a figure shocking enough to put you off your lunch.