Aboriginal Hunter-Gatherer Approach To Solve Food Shortage
Australian Wines And The Powerful Supermarket Industry
October 28, 2010Zero Carbon World Concert At Edendale Farm, Eltham
October 29, 2010VicHealth is reporting that the 5000 strong Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative in Geelong, working with Victoria University (VU) has returned to traditional hunter-gatherer methods to solve food shortages and improve healthy eating.
Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the average Indigenous household income is $460 a week, compared to $740 for non-Indigenous families.
Dr Karen Adams from VU says the rise in the cost of healthy foods has put pressure on Aboriginal families, with many running out of food before their next pay.
She says that the project has:
“a real focus on how you can recreate your culture in a modern colonised world.
It’s about increasing people’s knowledge by planting native foods in community gardens and demonstrating cooking methods that include fish in clay wraps and paperbark, kangaroo, native spinach, native mint and even witchetty grubs..
All of this reinforces cooking as cultural, healthy, social and fun. We want to move away from diets high in sugar and salt content.’’
About The Project
- An Aboriginal television cooking series is planned for community TV
- Also in the pipeline is specialised cookbook and the distribution of children’s plates depicting healthy food portions
- The community – which spreads from near Anglesea to south of Ballarat – is also developing a food bank and holding regular social cooking events
- Community members took part in a ‘photo-voice’ project, in which they took photographs of where they bought food, how they cooked it and who they ate with. This info was then used to discuss healthy eating issues, address community concerns and mobilise people for change
- The cooking events have been fuelling greater interest in meal preparation among Aboriginal people
Wathaurong community project coordinator Jodie Ryshka says:
“The kids are really motivating their parents to buy and cook healthy foods, which is a great sign for the future..
They are noticing that their parents are getting involved in healthy cooking and food, and they ask ‘what did you cook for tea at Wathaurong today?”
Project Partners
Visit the VicHealth website for further contact details.
Healthy and fun. A great idea.
1 Comment
My experience with Aboriginal hunters was an eye opener, walking some 5 kilometers throwing matches into the spinifex and setting the countryside alight – the first few animals found (usually snakes and goannas) were collected for dinner.
After seeing this repeated a number of times I wondered how much bushland suffered for these meals :/