Vegetables are an essential for all of us. But it’s easy to forget that the big, bright and beautiful produce which fills our shopping bags, all starts with a tiny seed. The key to growing veggies all year round in different climates comes back to genetics. It’s the kind of science that gives cauliflowers UV protection or even turns them orange or purple.

Plant scientist, Eliza Seymour develops seeds to suit every climate in Australia. She’s even transplanted herself from Darwin to Melbourne to pursue her career in agronomy. For Eliza, everything in farming comes back to the seed.

“The seed is where it all starts,” she says with passion.

As an expert in vegetable genetics and seed breeding, Eliza knows that the right seed has the potential to shape an entire crop’s future. From improving flavour to enhancing disease resistance, the right genetics can make all the difference. Her job revolves around developing seeds that not only meet the needs of farmers but also improve the efficiency and sustainability of farming practices.

A blooming career

Eliza’s journey into agriculture wasn’t a traditional one.

“I didn’t come from an agricultural background,” she explains. Her fascination with plants began in high school, where she became “obsessed with plant science” and certainly stood out from the crowd.

“I didn’t realise everyone didn’t have this strange obsession like I did,” she laughs. This fascination led her to study plant science and accounting at university.

“I wasn’t entirely sure about a career in agriculture, so I thought I’d balance it out with accounting just in case,” she says, smiling at her decision.

“In hindsight, I probably should have gone for agribusiness instead of accounting, but it was a good balance. The plant science kids were pretty kooky, and accounting was very black and white.”

Despite her early uncertainty, Eliza has found a fulfilling career in the agricultural industry, having now spent five years immersed in seed breeding and plant genetics.

“I love being in this industry. There’s so much to learn, and every day brings something new,” she shares.

“I feel lucky to be in an industry where people are genuinely passionate and excited about what they do.” Although she didn’t grow up on a farm, Eliza quickly adapted to the rhythm of agricultural life.

“I feel like I’m an aggie person now,” she says, referring to herself as a proud member of the agricultural community.

Everyone’s been so welcoming, and it’s been great to see how intelligent and skilled farmers are in their work.

In her role, Eliza works closely with farmers, testing new varieties of crops in real-world conditions.

“It’s all about trial and error. When we test new seed varieties, we start small—sometimes just 50 plants—and track how they perform,” she explains. “Over time, as the data comes in, we decide whether to scale up. It might take two to three years before a variety is really ready for farmers to adopt it.”

It’s a process that demands patience, but the end result can mean improved yields and higher-quality produce. For instance, Eliza is involved in breeding crops like tomatoes and broccoli, both of which require careful selection.

“Farmers are always looking for new varieties that are resilient against diseases or pests. A lot of the work I do is focused on breeding plants with disease resistance built in,” she says.

Challenges constantly cropping up

One crop she’s particularly focused on is spinach, which faces challenges from downy mildew.

“Every year or two, a new race of this disease pops up, and it’s been evolving for decades,” Eliza explains. “The breeders have to keep up, constantly developing new varieties with resistance to the new strains of mildew that show up.”
In addition to breeding disease-resistant crops, Eliza’s work extends to improving the harvesting process.

“Broccoli is still hand-harvested in Australia, and it’s a labour-intensive process,” she explains. Broccoli plants grow with their heads sitting low to the ground, meaning workers must lean over to cut them.

“The stems are thick and strong, and most of the broccoli you see in stores is actually more stem than flower,” Eliza continues. “It’s a physically demanding job, with workers often hurting their backs from bending over for long periods.” To address this, Eliza is involved in developing a “high-rise” broccoli variety.

“We’re working on broccoli with longer stems, so the heads sit higher off the ground—around 50 centimetres rather than just 20 centimetres. This way, machines can harvest the crops more efficiently, and it will reduce the strain on the workers.” Though still in the trial phase, Eliza is excited about the potential for these changes. “It’s a game-changer for labour efficiency on farms, but like with all breeding work, it will take time to get it right.”

Insights on the internet

Beyond her work in the field, Eliza is passionate about educating the public on the science behind farming and seed breeding. Through her TikTok account, “Need for Seed,” and her Instagram, she shares insights into the vegetable world and the complexities of plant genetics.

“There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes in farming and seed breeding. People don’t realize how much science is involved in growing the food they eat,” she says.

“I love sharing that knowledge and showing people how fascinating agriculture can be. It’s not just about food—it’s about the science that makes that food possible.”

Her TikTok videos cover everything from cauliflower breeding to the processes farmers use to ensure quality crops. She’s built a platform that makes the complexities of agriculture accessible to everyday people.

“Consumers are becoming more interested in where their food comes from and how it’s produced. I think we’re starting to see more of a push for transparency in the food industry,” Eliza says.

That’s a huge opportunity to educate the public and show them the work that goes into producing food sustainably.”

Eliza’s ultimate dream for the future is to continue in both the technical side of breeding and the communication side of agriculture.

“I want to keep learning and growing in my career, but I also want to continue using platforms like TikTok and Instagram to raise awareness about the importance of seeds and breeding in agriculture,” she says.

“It’s not just about producing more food but producing better food that can withstand challenges like disease and climate change. The future of food security depends on understanding the science behind what we’re growing.”

As for where Eliza sees herself in future, she’s open to new opportunities.

“The sky’s the limit. I’m only five years into my career, so there’s a lot more to learn, but I’m excited to see what the future holds. Whether it’s in breeding, educating the public, or a combination of both, I’m ready for the next challenge.”

For now, Eliza is focused on her mission to help farmers thrive and to continue educating the public on the world of agriculture.

“It’s an exciting industry, and I feel lucky to be a part of it,” she says.

Hear more stories like this by subscribing to the Telling Our Story podcast on iTunes (or wherever you listen to podcasts) and follow podcast host Angie Asimus on Instagram for more updates.

The post Need for Seed: From Little Things, Big Things Grow appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

Best in the business

Australian rice farmers produce more rice per hectare than anyone else in the world and industry leaders are Josh and Emily Small. Their dedication to best practice saw them recently recognised as the 2024 SunRice Growers of the Year. It is a dedication that incorporates holistic management and the continued pursuit of improved water efficiency.

“The beauty of rice is its adaptability to the environment,” Josh says.

“It is a crop that can be grown or not grown depending on seasonal conditions, so we are not taking water from environmental requirements.”

When water is not available, rice is not grown.

For the Small family, who have been growing rice since the 1950s, rice is one cog in their holistic wheel.

Through the cooler months, wheat, barley and canola are grown. When these are harvested the paddocks are sown with vetch, a nitrogen-fixing legume that reduces the need for artificial fertilisers. Onto the vetch go Merino ewes and lambs, to fatten before October.

It is a crop that can be grown or not grown depending on seasonal conditions, so we are not taking water from environmental requirements.

Then it is time for rice.

Rice is either conventionally sown with direct drilling into heavy clay soils, which minimises water seepage, or aerially sown into paddocks flooded with water.

Then, using water gravity-fed along channels from the Murray Irrigation Scheme, the paddocks are saturated and the wetlands are created.

“Once the water is on, it becomes a daily task to monitor levels morning and night because rice needs permanent water,” Emily says.

Water flow between rice bays is adjusted, according to crop requirements, by manually operating concrete stops.

It is a labour-intensive time and “a lot of wives don’t really like rice over summer because they can’t go anywhere,” Emily says.

The Smalls are sowing four rice varieties this year: the medium-grained Sherpa, VO71 and Illabong that are used in everyday cooking, and the short-grained Opus that is used in sushi.

Carbo-hydrate

Reusing the water used to grown rice underpins the Small’s operation.

“Growing rice gives us a soil moisture profile for the winter crops but because we also recycle water used on rice, capturing it in one of three dams, it is also used for pre-irrigation,” Josh says.

“We get a double hit of the moisture.”

You can have done everything right but at the end of the day Mother Nature pulls the trigger.

Apart from the water component, growing rice is similar to growing other grains and as in all farming is weather dependant.

“The biggest challenge we face is the huge climatic variability,” Josh says.

“The last few years have been quite difficult going from either too wet to too dry, and that leads to an emotional rollercoaster, which can be hard on family life. You can have done everything right but at the end of the day Mother Nature pulls the trigger.”

Working with, not against, Mother Nature is one of the reasons Josh and Emily were awarded Rice Growers of the Year.

In addition to reduced fertiliser and water use, the Smalls use natural grades for their rice paddocks to assist water flow, keep tree corridors for drainage and as wildlife attractants, and support research and development initiatives.

It’s beautiful, especially in the evenings, to come here and see the brolgas and other birds and hear the frogs.

“SunRice is doing a lot of work tagging and monitoring Bitterns in rice paddocks and we are taking part in an automation trial,” Emily says of two research projects.

“That might mean families may be able to get away over summer in the future,” she adds with a laugh.

Despite the summer challenges, the Smalls find solace in their wetlands.

“It’s beautiful, especially in the evenings, to come here and see the brolgas and other birds and hear the frogs and know that rice is a flexible crop we can use in our holistic program when times are right,” Emily says.

“We love growing rice.”

The post Rice growers reuse water, win gold appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

Homemade cleaner

Want an effective, natural cleaner that also smells good? Fill a jar with citrus peel and cover with vinegar. Put the lid on and leave in a dark place for a couple of weeks before straining into a spray bottle.

Deter cats

Do you have an extra friendly neighbourhood cat that strays into your yard leaving behind unpleasant “presents”?Cats don’t like the smell of citrus, so placing fresh peel in your yard is an easy way to get them to move on.

Fire starters

Winter is has arrived and if you’re going to warm up by a fire, try using dried citrus as the fire starters. The flammable oil in the peel helps fuel the fire. You’ll still need other kindling but it’s a great option instead of paper.

Orange peel tea

If you’re after a zest to your daily tea, try using some orange peel. There’s lots of combinations to try, but the simplest is to boil water with orange peels and add black tea leaves. You can also add a pinch of cardamom. Besides a flavour hit, the peel contains pectin which also helps with digestion.

If you’ve got an interesting use for orange peel, comment below!

The post Creative uses for citrus peel (that aren’t marmalade) appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

Nestled on 120 acres in the picturesque Byron Bay Hinterland is a true paddock-to-plate eatery, delightfully named Frida’s Field. There you will find a blank canvas in the process of being transformed into a productive farm that grows an abundant variety of foods using regenerative techniques.

The owners, Edward Rawlings and Jeanie Wylie wanted to share this produce and ethos with others, so they hold long lunches several times a week, operate farm tours and a market garden.

Just how much she loves the tree-change has surprised Jeanie Wylie herself, having grown up in Brisbane.

Her happy place these days is the veggie garden and she’s creating something very special among those garden beds.

Cooking, travelling and eating

“Both Edward and I have always loved cooking, so when we met at university, we spent a lot of time cooking. Then, we did a lot of travel which involved a lot of eating,” she shares.

They took that love of food to the next level when they decided to grow it for themselves, on a farm. They moved to the country to test the waters, built a moveable house and bought some pigs, one of them named Frida.

They were the ingredients required to determine if farm life would be something they could do permanently. It turns out it was, so they brought the house they built with them plus two children they had added to the family in the meantime and moved to the Byron Bay Hinterland.

The name Frida’s Field symbolises Jeanie and Edward following their dreams. The land she says, is a blank canvas.

It’s slow going. It feels like a lifetime project.

They have already done so much, growing vegetables, spices and wagu beef with plans to introduce bush tucker and fruit trees. “Everything I produce is used in the restaurant.”

That may be in the lunch menus for the restaurant or in the farm shop where customers can purchase preserves.

“Our chef is absolutely awesome at just working with what we have,” Jeanie explains.

Circular and sustainable

Having a restaurant though, comes with the problem of food scraps like celery tops. Those waste products are composted and used back in the garden.

Anyone intrigued by these long lunches is welcome to come along on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for a four-hour lunch in an architecturally designed barn overlooking the paddocks and tree-lined river.

We have one sitting per day. It’s a set menu feast. So, it’s a lot of food. Come hungry!

“There are three entrees, a main with three sides and dessert. Our team will treat you like family.”

Jeanie acknowledges it’s been hard work but the freedom of this way of life stands out as the highlight. “You have to be really self motivated which is one of the challenges but also one of the joys. It’s all up to me to make it happen,” she says.

There’s no one telling you what to do. I don’t need to be anywhere at a certain time, except dropping the kids to the bus!

Jeanie has certainly embraced a slower-living mentality and now finds visiting the city quite overwhelming. “The hectic pace, the colours and the messages that you get pumped with in the city.”

New appreciation for food and farming

It has given her an appreciation for wide open spaces but also for food. The time and energy it takes to grow has come as a shock.

“How challenging it is to grow in quantities. Thinking about how many people there are in the world and how that food gets to those people.

“I just have a deeper understanding of why mass food production systems are the way they are. My understanding of how we could possibly change that has become more nuanced.”

It’s hard to grow a lot food!

For now, the focus is on her own patch of land, to build a business and a farming system that could out-live her. “A business that is self-sustaining so when I get old and decrepit, it can keep going!” she laughs.

Here’s to Frida’s Field becoming a place for long lunches for many years to come.

Hear more stories like this by subscribing to the Telling Our Story podcast on iTunes (or wherever you listen to podcasts) and follow podcast host Angie Asimus on Instagram for more updates.

The post Long lunches and the lure of farming appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

The National Farmer Wellbeing Report, commissioned by Australian farmer owned dairy cooperative Norco and the National Farmers’ Federation, also revealed 30% of farmers reported a decline in their mental health in the past few years.

The top three factors impacting farmer mental health were weather or natural disasters (47%), financial stress (36%), and inflation and cost pressures (35%).

Quantifying the impact across the country, it found that 88% of Australian farmers have had their farming operation significantly impacted by natural disasters over the past five years, with an average cost of $1.4 million per farm.

Everyone can help reverse statistics

Norco Chief Executive Officer Michael Hampson said it was devastating so many farmers felt what they did wasn’t valued.

“Our farmers really are the backbone of this nation and work tirelessly to deliver essential goods and services to the Australian public, so it’s clear that more work needs to be done to acknowledge this and plug the appreciation gap,” he said.

To help ensure our farmers feel valued, there’s really no better place to start than by making sure that we, as Australians, choose Aussie farmer products over foreign companies and imported products.

A good place to start, is to checking the labelling when buying products to see where they come from.

“This is a simple, first step that Australian consumers can get behind. But beyond this, we also need to consider ways in which we can actively help address the issue of declining mental health within our farming communities.”

The report explores the seriousness of mental health in Australia’s farming community and outlines recommendations to combat this crisis. To read the full report click here.

*If this article you has brought up feeling and you need to seek support, call Lifeline 13 11 14 for 24 hour free counselling in Australia or visit beyondblue.org.au. If your life is in immediate danger, call 000.

The post Choose Aussie grown to boost declining farmer morale appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

Ingredients

• Four 170g beef burger patties
• 1 medium red beetroot (about 200g), peeled
• 1 1/2 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
• 1 tbs each thinly sliced fresh chives and finely chopped fresh dill
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tsp Sriracha
• 4 slices tasty cheese
• 4 hamburger buns
• 20g baby rocket
• 4 fried eggs

Method

1. Using box grater, coarsely grate beetroot into bowl. Stir in vinegar, oil, chives, dill and sugar. Season beetroot relish with salt and pepper.
2. In small bowl, mix mayonnaise and Sriracha. Season chilli mayo with salt and pepper.
3. Prepare barbecue for high heat. Season burger patties with salt and pepper.
4. Brush barbecue grates with oil and add patties. Barbecue patties 2 mins or until bottoms are lightly charred. Flip patties and top with cheese. Barbecue 2 mins, or until bottoms are lightly charred and cheese has melted. Set patties aside on plate.
5. Meanwhile, barbecue cut sides of buns 1 min, or until lightly toasted.
6. Spread chilli mayo over bottom halves of buns. Top with rocket, burger patties, beetroot relish and eggs. Top with bun tops and serve.

Recipe by Curtis Stone for Australian Beef. Click here for more great recipes and inspiration.

The post Aussie beef burger appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

A good wedding anniversary present can be hard to find but when Julie Kos bought her husband Paul a smoker as a gift, they had no idea just how life-changing it would be.

They started smoking everything and as egg farmers, well, they gave that a go too. It was a light-bulb moment. Now, the Victorian couple are the proud owners of The Smoked Egg Co – producing an Australian first, raw, cold, smoked egg that’s free from bacteria.

“I decided to make a quiche with the smoked eggs. My husband told me he hates quiches but it was a case of bad luck because if we smoked eggs I could get the GST back on the smoking unit!” she laughs.

Oh my god. You’ve taken this quiche to the next level.

“But when we actually tried it, he said to me ‘Oh my god. You’ve taken this quiche to the next level’.” Julie describes it as eating bacon and eggs, without having the bacon. “So, it’s very healthy. Eggs are nature’s vitamin capsules as far as I’m concerned. Now, they’ve got a difference to them.”

Julie was a chef before becoming an egg farmer, so she’s combined her two skills perfectly. The husband and wife duo started smoking eggs for flavour profile alone and it took more than nine months to perfect the method. However, in the end, another aspect of the process became truly ground-breaking.

“Once we got the flavour in there, we wanted to know if the flavour developed over time, which it does.

I then realised the egg wasn’t breaking down, which meant we’d stopped the ageing process of an egg.

“That’s the biggest problem for cafe owners and for farmers.” Julie took the eggs for testing to verify her observations and found the smoked egg still didn’t contain any bacteria even after more than 200 days. “We decided it’s not worth going any further. Even though it may last for three or four years, I don’t particularly want to eat an egg that old!” she says.

Julie sees huge applications for this technology if there are other bird flu outbreaks or another pandemic grinds trade to a halt, now eggs can be stockpiled if needed. The challenge, Julie says, is educating people about the process because most consumers assume a smoked egg is cooked and ready to eat. It is, however, a raw product.

“What we do is we get an egg, we then naturally smoke wood, encapsulate that smoke, we chill that smoke down.

So, we are the first chilled smoking method that we know of in the world.

“Cold smoking is usually between 18 and 35 degrees. We go from minus 4 to positive 7.”

Julie says there’s no reason the same equation can’t be used for any type of food that needs refrigeration. “We don’t change the quality of the protein or the structure of the food. That’s really exciting because we can do meat. We can do flour. We can do rice. And prolong the life any of those products.”

Zooming in on eggs, the process works by opening the pores of the egg, infusing flavour, but at that temperature, it’s still entirely raw. “The pores won’t open up unless it’s in a chilled environment. So, as an egg producer, we grade our eggs and wash them in warm water. The reason we do that is, if we did it in cold water, all the impurities in that water would go straight back into the egg and it would carry bacteria,” she explains.

The couple have taken a patent out on their find. “My bank account is not very happy about it. It’s quite an expensive process. But we’ve just sold a licence to Saudi Arabia.

“We’re talking with people in the UK. We’re talking with the egg board in America and have sold a licence over there and also the Netherlands. We’re starting to gain ground but nobody really understands what it’s about because they see the word smoked and they think it’s cooked, which it’s not.”

If you’re interested in sampling these delights, The Smoked Egg Co is in major supermarkets now. “We’ve got select Woolworths stores in Victoria, NSW and Queensland. And we’ve got Coles in Victoria and NSW.”

Julie isn’t stopping there. “My ultimate dream for the future is seeing smoked eggs in every shop and supermarket around the world. It’s going to take us a while to get there. Being a female founder of this product, I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved. It has been a very hard journey but I think we’re nearly there.”

For shoppers who find a box of these smoked eggs in the supermarket, Julie does have some recipe ideas – smoked lemon curd, smoked vanilla ice cream, smoked quiche, smoked mayonnaise and even the simple smoked poached egg. Sounds smokin’ to us!

Hear more stories like this by subscribing to the Telling Our Story podcast on iTunes (or wherever you listen to podcasts) and follow podcast host Angie Asimus on Instagram for more updates.

The post These eggs are smokin’ – an Australian first transforming the humble egg appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

They say, ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’, and the Montague family has proven that to be true.

It all started with the patriarch Bill in 1948. Fast forward to now, and his grandson Scott has been busy learning about the orchard, packing, distribution, sales and marketing. As much as we all love a Granny Smith or Red Delicious, the family is continuing to crunch into new ground, introducing consumers to new varieties such as Jazz, Envy and Eve.

Montague managing director, Scott Montague, is as passionate about apples as his father and grandfather before him. In fact, the primary land they farm on, 40 minutes from Melbourne, has become a sentimental place.

“We’ve built a memorial on one of our mature dams. It’s got a lot of wildlife, surrounded by apples trees and the memorial is for members of our family who are no longer with us. It’s a really peaceful spot,” Scott shares.

Bringing the Red Delicious to Australia

The farm has been in the family for 75 years. “Same land. We have expanded out but it’s where we started. It’s where it all began.”

Bill, the patriarch, actually started growing vegetables and supplied local hospitals with fresh produce. Apples came later, and he became one of the first people to introduce Red Delicious to Australia.

Of course, apples have come a long way since the Red Delicious and these days, the Montagues travel the world to find new and exciting ways to produce fruit.

Those travels have allowed the family to introduce some new varieties to shoppers, which is what drives Montague. “We get to eat fruit all the time that is so innovative and offers different flavour profiles,” Scott explains.

It’s so much more diverse than going in and getting a red or green apple.

He feels the apple industry hasn’t been as sophisticated as other industries in celebrating diverse flavour profiles. He’s made it his mission to provide that and is educating people about the options on offer.

Exotic apples and on-farm taste testing

Encouraging people to try those new varieties is the challenge, which is why, the family offers on-farm taste testing at the Narre Warren property. “There are two apples that are great for me. One is Ambrosia – it’s very new to Australia. The sweetness and the light density of the flesh is amazing.

“We launched that during the pandemic, so it’s been a very challenging time to get it out to consumers. It’s also pretty hard to go past Jazz and what it delivers – it’s a sweet apple with a tangy background.”

A fairly ground-breaking new variety, which isn’t available yet, is the Kissabel Apple, that features a red flesh.

It’s part of a breeding program out of France. Again, it’s all natural.

“It’s from crosses with normal apples and crab apples. The original crab apples have a red flesh and that’s where it comes from,” Scott explains.

These red fleshed apples also feature a variety of skin colours including red and green. The feedback has been exceptional, especially from chefs who are excited at the prospect of how it would present on a plate.

Montague has developed a profile on consumer tastes and all innovations are based around three keys factors – sweetness, balance and flesh density. They map those factors out and add different flavour profiles around that. “It’s got to be a really special piece of fruit as to why a consumer would pick it up over what they’re already getting.”

Cutting through the cucumber competition

Apple farmers are now competing with a lucrative wholefood snacking market with baby carrots, mini tomatoes, and bite – sized cucumbers all proving immensely popular. Maintaining relevance is crucial. Success is also about meeting consumer expectations beyond taste.

Scott says sustainability is demanded by the market. At the Narre Warren farm, 100% of the water is reused for agriculture, they have solar, and energy used for refrigeration also goes back into heating. But it’s some of the food waste initiatives that really standout.

Thankfully, in the world of apples, there’s big demand for juice, so waste is not a huge issue. However, Montague also grows stone fruit and that has required a bit more imagination. If the fruit doesn’t make a first – grade box, it goes straight to landfill.

With some creativity, Montague has developed a plum puree which Peters Ice Cream is utilising for a sorbet. They are also in discussions with other companies about using waste as a biofuel.

From fires, to floods, to the pandemic – it has been a roller coaster of a few years for Scott and his family. What’s amazing to see is the true belief he has in his work, despite the hardship.

To give them this piece of fruit, blow them away in terms of the flavour, it’s what drives us.

“When you see people eating good fruit and getting excited about it again, it’s really great. It’s just a long way to get it there! But we get to go to work and sell fruit. It’s such a healthy product. It’s good for us. It’s good for the community.”

Scott’s goal is to bring back a surprise on someone’s face when they crunch into a new type of apple. So, if that’s you, please get in touch and let us know!

Hear more stories like this by subscribing to the Telling Our Story podcast on iTunes (or wherever you listen to podcasts) and follow podcast host Angie Asimus on Instagram for more updates.

The post The apple doesn’t fall far on this farm appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

When you find yourself collecting your neighbours’ left-over home grown produce so you can make pickles and preserves in an effort to save them from the bin – you know food is your thing.

Alex Elliott-Howery has channelled her love of the kitchen into a café and cooking school along with a series of cookbooks, the most recent being ‘The Food Savers A-Z’.

Within those pages, you’ll not only learn traditional methods to create fabulous food, but you’ll also master how to use up all those bits and pieces left in the fridge. Think brown avocado, limp cauliflower, and bruised beans. To gain some insight into her food waste hacks, the owner of Cornersmith herself has offered to share some of her top tips.

Alex and her husband James started the business a decade ago with a strong ethos around sustainability. Alex describes herself as an enthusiastic home-cook, while James has always had a background in hospitality. Between them, they have built an endearing community of like-minded people through their cafe at Marrickville in Sydney’s inner-west.

Waste hacks

“We just thought, imagine if we created the place that we really want to go to,” Alex describes. When the shop opened, customers were encouraged to bring in their excess home-grown produce to be turned into pickles and preserves.

It was about raising awareness of issues around our food culture and also bringing people together.

“It was about knowing where your food comes from. It was about seasonality. It was about raising awareness of issues around our food culture and also bringing people together.”

For those not local to Sydney, Alex has put a lot of her tips onto paper after seeing a desire from the public to learn some skills-based cooking. Her fourth and most recent booked co-authored with Jaimee Edwards is ‘The Food Savers A-Z’. The premise is for those of us with produce in our fridges that’s looking a little sad, you look up the item in the book and find scores of ways to use it up.

“So you say go to B for Broccoli and there’s just a million ideas of what you can do. Whether it’s looking fresh, or you only have a tiny bit left or it’s really old and wrinkly – we give you the answers,” she explains.

By following Cornersmith on Instagram, Alex and Jaimee also offer a ‘Waste Hack Wednesday’ cooking tip every week. For an issue that can be quite heavy, be prepared to have a laugh.

Removing the burden

“It’s so silly, so I apologise in advance, it’s like slapstick humour. It can be a really dry topic and it often falls onto the cook of the house, and i’ll put it out there, that’s predominantly women. I don’t want to put any more work and responsibility onto people who are already tired and drained. We’re trying to bring the ease and fun and that it’s quite satisfying to use stuff up,” Alex says.

I don’t want to put any more work and responsibility onto people who are already tired and drained.

Expect the unexpected with some of the ideas. Forget banana bread. Try banana jam, banana ketchup or sundaes. Lots of green sauces for the leftover herbs. Turning half packets of pantry staples into muesli bars. The list goes on.

“Jaimee and I are busy working mums. We get home at 5 or 6 o’clock and we need to get a meal on the table. We want the lunch boxes to be as good as they can be. So, we’ve really lived it. We’re not coming from the chef experience,” Alex shares.

The National Farmers’ Federation has a goal to halve food waste by 2030 and Alex believes our relationship with farmers is integral to making this work. She says even the term ‘waste’ could be problematic because it connotes the idea that there’s something wrong with that wonky apple that goes into the seconds bin or the cauliflower leaves that are entirely edible.

I can’t throw that away. Someone worked so hard to grow this.

“A connection to farmers made me start to think about food waste in a different way. Early on, when we started, we worked very closely with farmers directly. Once I started meeting people and understanding the impact of the weather for example on crops and their livelihood, I was like, I can’t throw that away. Someone worked so hard to grow this,” says Alex.

“Food is expensive right now but it’s also cheap enough that we can throw it away, if you’re lucky enough to be in that position.”

Thinking critically

Alex’s aim is that from commercial to home kitchens, we learn to value the food we have purchased.

“It’s so easy to call Uber Eats in the city but we need more skills in our kitchens. Not so we can be in there the whole time and bottling apricots for our whole lives but so that we can do our part,” she says.

Food is expensive right now but it’s also cheap enough that we can throw it away, if you’re lucky enough to be in that position.

Alex also encourages people to think critically about use-by and best-before dates.

“We’ve forgotten how to trust our instincts and we trust this sticker that’s on the back of something. In all my cooking classes, I’m really big on getting people to smell stuff, to listen to something, to engage and taste things and make an informed decision. I reckon our grandmothers and great-grandmothers were not throwing away things because there was a best-before written on there. I reckon they knew.”

Things to avoid

If you’re interested in making some changes in your own home, here are some of the common traps many of us fall into:

1. We buy too much food. Think realistically about how many nights of the week you are going to cook.
2. Only buy types of food that will get eaten. You might love for everyone in the house to eat two pieces of fruit a day, but if they tend not to, stop buying it.
3. Know how to store fruit and vegetables to prolong life. Wrapping up kale in a slightly damp towel and popping it in a bag in the fridge will buy you a couple of weeks to use it.
4. Focus on the food, then recipes. So, if you open the fridge and see a whole cauliflower, think about how to use it over several meals. Skill-based cooking.

Hear more stories just like Alex’s by subscribing to the Telling Our Story podcast on iTunes and follow podcast host Angie Asimus on Instagram for more updates.

The post Waste not, want not appeared first on AustralianFarmers.

Ingredients

• 500g pork loin steaks, cut into 2-3cm pieces 
• 2 tablespoon teriyaki sauce + 1/3 cup extra
• 2 x 106g packets instant ramen noodles (discard seasonings) 
• 1 ½ tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil 
• 300g packet fresh superfood stir-fry vegetables (or your choice of stir-fry veggie mix) 
• 3 green onions (shallots), trimmed and cut into 1cm slices

Method

1. Place pork into a medium bowl. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce. Stir to coat pork. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Cook noodles in a saucepan of boiling water for 4 minutes. Drain. Cover and keep warm.
3. Meanwhile, heat a wok over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat wok. Add pork. Stir-fry for 3-4 minutes or until pork is golden.
4. Add remaining 2 teaspoon oil to wok. Add stir-fry vegetable mix and green onions. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. 
5. Add the extra 1/3 cup teriyaki sauce to wok. Stir-fry for 1 minute or until steaming hot.
6. Toss through ramen noodles. Serve topped with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds and a scatter of coriander leaves.

You can find this recipe and more pork recipe’s at Australian Pork.

The post Easy teriyaki pork, veggie & noodle stir fry appeared first on AustralianFarmers.