Australian Bushfoods magazine  

From the Sydney Morning Herald

April 12, 2008 

A cultural education project is helping young indigenous people before things go wrong, but with little government support, writes Liz Thompson. A community leader, his wife and his mother sat on the beach near the Arnhem Land outpost of Maningrida. 

The Federal Government's interventionist Norforce was about to arrive and the old people were fearful.

From the Pigs will fly site

Bush Foods, collaboration & a projected doubling of turnover in 5 years

There is now a real Australian food - sauces, dressings, condiments and herbs that are a fusion of age-old Aboriginal staples with the techniques and foods of Australia’s settler and immigrant heritage - tasty and simple to use.

Cosmos  magazine

Thursday, 2 August 2007

SYDNEY: Some indigenous Australian fruits, such as the Kakadu and Burdekin plums, have been found to be many times richer in cancer-fighting antioxidants than than even the blueberry, which is renowned for its high antioxidant levels.

A study commissioned by Food Science Australia found that 12 native fruits are exceptional sources of antioxidants, which can reduce oxidative stress in our bodies and minimise damage to DNA and proteins by mopping up highly reactive free radical molecules.

While indigenous people have eaten Australian native fruits for thousands of years, this is the first scientific study of the fruits as a source of antioxidants.

Aboriginal nutrition

By Cathy Pryor

One of the key promises of the federal government since their election has been to close the life expectancy gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. It is a huge task, and one that can only be achieved with better nutrition in Aboriginal communities. Today in Alice Springs more than 200 nutritionists and health experts will meet for a three-day conference called "Good Health-Good Tucker" to discuss the challenges ahead and showcase some projects already underway. In the Northern Territory, the Arnhemland Progress Association has introduced a system called FOODcards to promote healthy eating while the Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services has been running cooks camps to teach cooking and nutrition skills. In this report: Adam Barnes, health and nutrition manager at the Arnhemland Progress Association; David Djalangi, cultural liason officer with the Arnhem Land Progress Association and deputy chairperson of the Galiwin'ku Community Council; Sarah Connally, a nutritionist who helped set up the cooks camp. http://www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/content/2006/s2186184.htm

By KIERAN FINNANE

Two small local businesses, wholesalers of wild produce harvested by Aboriginal people, are concerned about the worth to the industry, as well as possible negative impact, of work by the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre. Craig James, the CRC's general manager for Commercialisation and Communication, says it is early days for the CRC's work in the area. The value to industry of CRC research accrues after the research is complete, he says. But the wholesalers think the researchers are looking in the wrong places. Rod Horner, who's been trading in the wild produce for 30 years, says the existing model, built on the traditional knowledge of Aboriginal people and their labour, is small but it works and it is growing, learning from its mistakes. He says structural changes - such as a mooted introduction of a buying agency funded from the public purse that would by-pass the wholesalers Ð would not be immune from mistakes, and the larger their scale, the larger the likely mistakes.

Two new resources finally up:

Downloadable RIRDC reports here

and some fact sheets here.

New? Not quite - but it's good they're promoting it...from the Penrith Star:

New plant for your garden

15 Apr 2008

Muru Mittigar provenance nursery propagates vegetation from the Penrith Area of the Cumberland Plains for sale to the wholesale and retail industries. The emphasis is to ensure that the original endemic species are replaced in rehabilitation projects, council plantings, parklands and increasingly in home gardens, to preserve the gene pool of the local native plants.

The Cumberland Plain has been prized for its fertile soils and easy terrain since white settlement and in more recent years, housing has provided more of a threat to the flora and fauna of the Cumberland Plain Woodlands which is now classified an Endangered Ecological Community under the NSW Conservation Act 1995 and the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

From the excellent Bushfoods forum:

Here is a list of some of the edible mushrooms in Australia. It is not complete, just based mainly on the ones that I am most familiar with.

Agaricus bitorquis - often under sheoaks - big and beautiful

Agaricus arvensis - almond flavour of varying intensity, in parks.

Agaricus sylvaticus - forests

Armillaria luteobubalina (when cooked)

Boletus (salmongum) - botanical name would be appreciated.

Hydnum repandum -hedgehog mushroom, distinctive pleasant taste

Coprinus comatus - slice and remove bulk of water first by warming in pan.

Pleurotus australis - when cultivated - the ones in the field are too tough

Stropharia rugoso-annulata

Morchella elata - crops up in the oddest places.

Ramaria (caution hard to distinguish species)

Marasmius oreades

Volvariella speciosa - wait until the gills go pink, for safety. Looks like a deadly Amanita and often grows next to it.

Pluteus cervinus - dewater first, not unlike, and related to, Volvariella.

Cantharellus concinnus - looks very pretty, tastes bland

Lepista nuda (when cooked)

Suillus granulatus

Suillus luteus - said to be excellent pickled

Lactarius deliciosus

Flammulina velutipes (enokitake)

Ticholomopsis rutilans (yuck, tastes like mud)

Found in the online trading post:

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We are a 100% Australian company and are proud to be the first to introduce a category creating a native super-food beverage to the world. Australian native super fruits (bush tucker) have sustained the indigenous people in Australia for more than 50,000 years and is the oldest living culture on the planet.

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SYDNEY 20 – 22 JUNE

PERTH 11 – 13 JULY

BRISBANE 7 – 9 NOVEMBER

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• 70% female (25 – 54)
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• 96% regular grocery purchaser for the household
• Average monthly spend on food and wine $404
• Average visitor spend $120 at the Show
• 99% visitors likely to recommend, purchase or specify a product seen at show