Dinner will never look the same again

Food Inc is an Academy Award nominated documentary made in 2008 by Robert Kenner. It includes interviews with Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and one of my 'heroes', Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma). Not sure why it has taken two years for Food Inc to make it into Australian cinemas but it is a must see now it is screening.

One of the closing quotes is "You have a choice. Three times a day" and that is so true. We will not eat chicken again unless it is certified organic from a supplier we know or it is a chicken we have killed on the farm. There was nothing much really new in the movie that we had not seen or read about before. However, the truth behind the US food industry and the collusion (corruption?) between industry and government never ceases to amaze and confront us.

It started us thinking about who really owns who. For example, Macro Wholefoods is now owned by Woolworths and their products are still marketed in their same green packaging. They still command a premium price but how can we be sure that their products are the same and not compromised by being part of a larger supermarket chain? Thomas Dux is a brand also owned by Woolworths. Prices are higher and store layouts better but are their fruit and vegetables any fresher than in the Bondi superstore? Are the suppliers different?

I have begun to get really irritated by the "brand" marketing that goes on, particularly in banking. Westpac owns Bank SA, St George and BT Funds Management. Why do they insult my intelligence by telling (selling) me that St George is different? It is no longer a small regional bank that cares for customers. It is part of a major financial company that will destroy service and makes monstrous profits while crying foul and poor to the government. NAB is no better with U Bank and CBA is the worst of all with its appallingly awful advertisements for CBA (Determined to be different? Hardly!!) and for Bank West (Do they think I am stupid? Why promote accounts with talking horses, squirrels, goldfish and flowers?)

The problem is that there is increasingly less real choice and while I could bank with Members Equity or a Credit Union I am also pragmatic about risk after the Global Financial Crisis, which is far from over by the way. The only difference now is that it is country sovereign debt at risk as all the banks have offloaded the risk and their toxic waste portfolios to the public taxpayers.

It is the same with breakfast cereals, washing powder, soaps, media and so on. It really means that as consumers we must exercise our power and buy from local Australian owned suppliers. After Food Inc we will buy organic, buy at local farmer's markets, grow as much of our own food as we can, avoid any corn by products and "change the world one bite at a time".

Bon appetit.....and happy banking!!

Top dollar wool press

Above is a photograph from the Powerhouse Museum collection of how the wool was pressed about 1900. The photograph was taken between 1884 and 1917. The press features a simple system of gears which doubled the amount of wool that could be compressed into each bale and increased the amount of wool that could be exported. Early presses were patented in about 1877.

The wool press below is the one we purchased at a very fair price last week at Terry McIntosh's Sylvia Vale clearing sale. Really pleased to have been able to buy it and seems fitting that the press followed the stud ewes to our property. It is an older version of a TPW (Theresia Perfection Welding) press made in Perth, WA. It is a huge advance on the 1900s. The TPW press can compress up to 200 kg and each pressing cycle is a fast 15 seconds. It has automatic bale side pining and the fastest wool pack locking system available. Add a larger opening to the filling chamber, compact height and size and high safety devices with ease of use and it is perfect for our shearing shed.

TPW was established by John and Marion Jordans in Perth in 1975 with a $500 overdraft and a ute. Swiss company Heiniger bought the company in 2000, by which time the Jordans had sold 10,850 presses. Our press is green and gold dating it to pre 2000 and has a 'limited edition' model serial number plate. The short square bales the press produces make handling far easier and transportation a breeze. Well, sort of because the bales are still 180 - 200 kg in weight so even though one man can move them they are still heavy!!

Almost can't wait for shearing time again!!

Slow Food....Arriving all the time..Soon

Slow Food started in Italy by founding member Carlo Petrini and became an  international not-for-profit organization with a manifesto in 09 November 1989. It was founded to counteract the disappearance of local food traditions, oppose fast food and increase awareness of where our food comes from and how our choices affect the rest of the planet. it is based in Bra, Italy and has almost 100,000 members in 132 countries. Slow Food Australia – Slow Food’s first national association in the southern hemisphere – has 42 convivia (branches) all across Australia.

Parts of the manifesto read "To be worthy of the name, homo sapiens should rid himself of speed before it reduces him to a species in danger of extinction.", "A firm defence of quiet material pleasure is the only way to oppose the universal folly of fast life.", "Our defence should begin at the table with Slow Food. Let us rediscover the flavors and savours of regional cooking and banish the degrading effects of fast food."

One of the movement's great initiatives is the Ark of Taste, an international catalogue of heritage foods in danger of extinction. The Ark is designed to preserve at-risk foods that are sustainably produced, unique in taste, and are part of a distinct ecoregion. Foods included in the list are intended to be "culturally or historically linked to a specific region, locality, ethnicity or traditional production practice". Since the foundation of the Ark in 1996, 800 products, breeds and cultivars from over 50 countries have been included, four from Australia: Bull Boar Sausages, Bunya Nuts, Leatherwood Honey and Ligurian Bee Honey, the last one exclusively available from supermarket chain Aldi and is delicious! The Italian bee was introduced to Australia in 1862 and now the only surviving colony is on Kangaroo Island.

An Australian Slow Food campaign is currently being run to allow Australia cheesemakers to use raw milk rather than the pasteurised and  sanitised milk allowed now. Really hope they succeed so sign up at their website and change the world one bite at a time!