Australia’s Vogue Recognizes Sustainable Food Producers

Posted by Jennifer Heigl

While the United States continues to build it’s green and sustainable following, Australia’s Vogue Entertaining + Travel recently handed out their annual Produce Awards, recognizing sustainable farms and food producers within the country down under, in categories including ‘from the paddock’, ‘from the dairy’, ‘from the earth’ and ‘from the sea’.

“The Awards are dedicated to discovering and celebrating the finest food growers and suppliers in the country. Whether you’re a three-hat chef, or someone who enjoys cooking at home, these are the producers and products you need to know about. This year, the produce was of such a high standard that rather than presenting just one runner-up to each winner, we decided to add a new ‘gold medal’ category,” says Trudi Jenkins, editor-in-chief of Vogue Entertaining + Travel.

“The Awards are not just a celebration of Australia’s fantastic produce; they acknowledge the people who are committed to quality and consistency in what they grow and make, and those who promote small producers through restaurants, providores and markets,” she says.

National judges included a number of well-known Australian chefs, including Alla Wolf-Tasker, Matt Moran, Cheong Liew, and Philip Johnson.

The winners list (minus the long list of regional recognitions):

From The Dairy: Holy Goat La Luna, Victoria, AUS

From The Earth: Daylesford Organics Heirloom Vegetables, Victoria, AUS

From The Sea: Pristine Oyster Farm, South Australia, AUS; Spanner Crabs Noosa, Queensland, AUS

From The Paddock: White Rocks Veal, Western Australia, AUS

Best New Product: Redgate Farm Jurassic Quail, New South Wales, AUS

Consistently Excellent Product: Blackmore Wagyu, Victoria, AUS

Outstanding Use of Regional Produce By A Chef: Dan Hunter, Royal Mail Hotel, Victoria, AUS

Outstanding Farmers Market: Willunga, South Australia, AUS

The Maggie Beer Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Australian Food: Stephanie Alexander, “The Cook’s Companion”

This year’s award ceremony also included a new award, Food Heritage and Sustainability, with Spring Bay Mussels of Tasmania, AUS taking home the prize.

Good on ya, mates, for your support of sustainable food production!

Weekly Newsbits: 2009 SOBE Wine & Food Festival; Fairmont Goes Green; Save Our Vegemite!

The 2009 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival is nearly here! Hosted by the Food Network, the Miami-area festival swings into town next week, February 19-22, and includes such events as a Kidz Kitchen and the fabulous Perrier-Jouët BubbleQ, hosted by chef Tom Colicchio. The King and Queen of Spain will also be on hand for a wonderful gala benefiting the School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University and Fundación España-Florida. Restaurant Editor Kate Krader over at Food & Wine even chimed in today with her top five reasons for wanting to attend. (Oh, Billy Joel! Possibly my favorite moment from the NYC Wine & Food Fest!)

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts announced recently intentions to expand their brandwide Green Cuisine program to include sustainable seafood choices. The hotel chain plans to remove threatened fish species, such as the Chilean Sea Bass and Bluefin Tuna, from their menus in an effort to create a more sustainable menu in line with seafood watch groups. You can read more about Fairmont’s Green Cuisine program here at their website.

In an effort to help curb the obesity rate in Australia, The Independent is reporting that the Australian Food and Grocery Council are currently considering an increased tax on the food staple down under. The yeast spread, initially created from waste yeast at a Melbourne brewery in 1922, is much considered an Australian national food.

A Memorable Thanksgiving

Here we are, basking in the turkey (or Tofurky) afterglow.

This year, I took a moment to reminisce about my favorite Thanksgivings past. From Iowa family gatherings to local turkey shoots, I was pleased to have a number of good memories come to mind.

My favorite Thanksgiving ever? When I was studying abroad in the south of Australia. Deep in a bout of homesickness (especially at the holidays) a dear Australian friend pledged to give my roommate and I a proper American Thanksgiving. However, since pumpkin is utilized mostly for savory dishes down under, she was a bit mortified by the thought of a sweet pumpkin pie. Bless her heart, when we arrived, the smell of pumpkin was in the air and a freshly baked pie sat squarely on the table. Talk about comforting! I hope this year’s Thanksgiving was just as memorable for you.

Have a great Thanksgiving story? Share it online.

Cookies and eggnog? Onward to Christmas!

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Food Recalls and Beverage Greenwashing – This Week’s Culinary News Roundup

Here we go again gang! For your reading pleasure on this lovely Sunday evening, I present a few culinary newsbits from around the world!

• Another day, another recall! Nestle Prepared Foods Company announced a recall on Friday of over 200,000 pounds worth of frozen stuffed pepperoni pizza sandwich products – more commonly known as Hot Pockets! It seems the recalled sandwiches may contain foreign material “such as hard red plastic as well as clear flexible rubber-like material”. A Hot Pocket person yourself? You can click here for more information on the affected batch numbers.
• The BBC reports that France has started a ’summer crackdown’ of restaurants with health violations, noting nearly 1000 people have been stricken with food poisoning over the last year. Authorities hope to curb food hygiene issues, as well as restaurants with fraudulent claims, touting farm-raised fish as wild caught, etc. Check out the video coverage here.
• Oh no! My favorite brewery in the world – Coopers Australia – is being investigated for ‘greenwashing’, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The Australian consumer group Choice has asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to look into ‘green’ claims that the brewery is making in recent ads, touting “big beer, tiny footprint”. With the increase in ‘greenwashing’ across industries, some environmentalists are concerned that the reputation of true ‘green’ products may be tarnished. Says Murray Hogarth of the environmental consultancy firm Ecos Corporation: “There is a danger that consumer cynicism will restrict the market. But there’s another risk and that is companies that have the money to invest in the development of [green] products will say ‘this is dangerous territory and we are not going to go there’.”

The Short Buzz: A Cocktail to Defy Space and Time

It is believed by a growing number of mixologists that a cocktail garnish should attribute more function than aesthetic filler.  In Sydney, Australia, the philosophy is being applied in a sprits of beach essence sprayed over the faces of blindfolded consumers strapped to an I-Pod.

Grant Collins’ aforementioned design is one of four sensory cocktails debuting at Zeta, a trendy nightspot in downtown Sydney.  The cocktail is actually a colada of rum, pineapple and coconut, but it’s the semi private area, the blindfold, and shots of Hawaiian Tropic sun tan oil that complete the drinks experience.

Mr. Collins states he was influenced by Heston Blumenthal, the chef of Fat Duck, whose menu graced a seafood dish paired with the ambience of ocean sounds.  Mr. Collins asserts the process can “heighten the link between the drink and the experience. Listening to the music makes your mind drift, and the blindfold heightens your sense of smell.”

Along with beach inspired meditations, the Zeta drink menu also totes a salty sea breeze cocktail paired with aquatic renditions and a martini designed to whisk one away to New York City circa 1950 at tunes of the Rat Pack.

But the complete experience is not without consumer participation, “You have to almost will yourself to be transported,” Mr. Collins advised. “For us, it’s about creating the right environment for that to happen.”

For those not dissuaded to work for metaphysical travel here is Zeta’s Tiki Sensory Colada (blindfold and sun tanner not included):

Tiki Sensory Colada

1.5 oz. Appleton Estate Reserve rum

.3 oz. coconut liqueur

2 oz. unsweetened coconut milk

3 oz. pineapple juice

.3 oz. ounce simple syrup

Combine the ingredients in a shaker with ice.  Shake vigorously, and then pour into a hollow pineapple or a tall glass.  Serve with a straw.

The Short Buzz is a regular post highlighting spirits.  

International Food Crises Outlook Dismal

Image details: Australia Threatened by Climate Change Outlook served by picapp.com

The Australian, via The Grinder, brings us the latest doom and gloom report on the international food crises happening all over the world, from extreme temperatures to floods and typhoons. Just this week, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization (CSIRO) released a report on the future of climate change, and it’s not pretty.

Australian Agriculture Minister Tony Burke, describing the report as “more like a disaster novel than a scientific report”, commented that that the cycle of drought over the next 30 years would be “more regular and deeper than ever”. Areas of Australia already experiencing low rainfall can expect the drought forecast to double, increasing the likelihood of lost crops and food stuffs. There is particular concern for the Murray-Darling Basin, the largest agricultural area in Australia.

“Food prices will probably go up,” Australian Dairy Farmers president Allan Burgess warned. “Food pricing is already on a new plane and the sorts of things in the report add to that.

Foster’s: Australian for ‘beer’, not ‘wine’

After four years on the job, and nearly thirty-three years with the company, Foster’s CEO Trevor O’Hoy is stepping down. According to this report from the Advertiser, lower-than-expected international wine sales seem to be the culprit. In 2005, Foster’s paid a whopping $3.2 billion to acquire Australian winemaker, Southcorp, and unfortunately, the returns have been less than profitable.

“We must also recognise and acknowledge that we paid too much to acquire wine assets…It’s now time to stand aside and the next generation of management to lead the business forward,” Mr O’Hoy said.

Chairman David Crawford noted that Australian beer sales continued to be strong for the company, though earnings per share were expected to grow only five to seven percent over the next year, rather than the original ten percent estimation. Profits are expected to be approximately $700 million for the fiscal year – certainly not just a drop in the bucket!

“We have been very open in saying wine returns are not acceptable and the board is fully focused on delivering value for shareholders,” Mr Crawford said. “Today we have recognised the direct financial impacts through revised guidance for our 2008 financial year earnings and write downs on the carrying value of global wine assets. Our challenge is to drive improved financial returns from wine and to exploit the growth potential of our leading portfolio of global wine brands.”

The Sydney Morning Herald has more on the ’sea of problems’ plaguing Foster’s.