18 March 2009

Canberra Harvest Festival

| dane
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Canberra’s local food is to be celebrated at the Canberra Harvest Festival, being held in conjunction with Earth Hour, on the 28th of March. The main goal of the festival is to bring people together to share in some of the great food produced in our region and to highlight the many benefits of eating locally produced food.

Director of the Canberra Environment and Sustainability Resource Centre, Dr Robin Tennant-Wood, believes that most people aren’t aware of the positives of eating locally produced food.

“Locally produced food has benefits not only to environmental health, but to our own health as well,” Dr Tennant- Wood said. “ In Canberra we are very well situated to source a lot of our food locally. Fresh produce, dairy, seafood, meats, wines and even some grains are available in the region and can be bought from local food producers.” The festival will be held at the Canberra Environment Centre and run from midday- 5pm, and the organisers believe this will be a great way for Canberrans to celebrate Earth Hour. “Earth Hour is about more than just turning off the lights, it’s about the way we approach all aspects of how we live, and taking steps to live more sustainably,” said Dr Tennant-Wood. Activities to be run on the day include free workshops, community information stalls, great local food and produce for sale, kids’ activities, live music, and competitions for the biggest and best locally grown vegetables. There will also be a gourmet barbecue lunch running right through the day. Local band, The Wedded Bliss will be performing from 12.30 to 2.30pm.

Further information call: Robin Tennant-Wood or Mark Alwast, 02 6248 0885

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Ok, a more sensible post; johnboy is dead right about ‘speciality producers’ being better than the supermarkets. I wouldn’t call them ‘speciality producers’ – more ‘market gardeners’ – but the difference to the processed muck you get in the supermarkets is just fantastic.

We buy our groceries from Epic/CIT and it is cheaper and a completely different taste to that of Woolies/Coles/Etc. And you have the satisfaction that the person who you buy from at the markets grew/harvested the things being bought.

Not only is the stuff good, but those taking your money appear to have brains and personalities, rather than the zombies we get at Woolies/Coles. Still, the supermarkets DO contribute to the hobby of trolley spotting so they are not that bad.

Well, off the soapbox and off to the festival. 🙂

EV

As global warming continues and sea-levels start to rise we could well get some local seafood 🙂

Just about to don my togs and cycle (might be a bit hypocrytical me taking the car after spouting on about climate change!!) to the Festival. As johnboy (for it is he!) points out, nowt to do with politics but more to do with taste-buds. If I remember rightly the Harvest Festival has some of the best Dagwoods around….

AND they have a ‘Free Raffle Prize’! Fantastic, I just hate the raffle prizes you have to pay for.

Ok, so I realise I’m typing for the sake of it now so will go and have fun at the Festival.

EV

That’s right, the Environment Centre is on the Corner of Lawson Cr and Lennox Crossing near the National Museum.
In regards to local seafood, the Environment Centre’s Capital Region Food Guide lists at least one local seafood supplier (local being within a 250km radius of Canberra). The guide is on sale today for $6 and will be available at the Harvest Festival. For more information call the Environment Centre on 6248 0885.

I thought it was the law that all fish sold in NSW/ACT had to first go through the Sydney Fish Market?

I think this Environment Centre is near the NMA –
Corner Lawson Crescent and Lennox Crossing.

Is that right?

On the poor preparation point, I was pleasantly surprised to be asked by Rocksalt restaurant how I wanted my salmon steak cooked.

It was the first time anyone has bothered to inquire.

Clown Killer6:04 pm 18 Mar 09

I’ll certainly agree with your last point GB. I believe that most complaints about seafood are actually the result of poor preparation rather than poor produce.

Clown Killer said :

It always surprises me that people seem to dismiss the availability of fresh seafood in Canberra …

Its not that its not available: its that most restaurants don’t avail themselves. And some of those that do, have no idea how to treat it.

I find that even if your politics don’t align 100% with these things your stomach and tastebuds will thank you for going anyway.

Specialty producers are in a whole other league to what you buy through the supermarket.

Clown Killer5:34 pm 18 Mar 09

I guess if you applied what seems to be the international standard for ‘local’ produce of 100 miles (160km) then you might get to the coast.

It always surprises me that people seem to dismiss the availability of fresh seafood in Canberra when in reality most ocean produce available in restaurants and cafes along the coast comes from the Sydney Fish Markets which is the same place Canberra’s comes from. Old fish might have been the case a couple of decades ago but not any more.

barking toad5:27 pm 18 Mar 09

We have local seafood?

I hope all the kiddies switch off the lights and the TV standby before reclining in their cycles and peddling off to the harvest.

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