Page 10 - Foodservice magazine may 2019

10
INSIDER
A PHOTO AND A THOUSAND WORDS
IF YOU THINK THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IS GETTING TOUGH, TRY THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IN THE MIDDLE OF A DROUGHT. FARMERS ARE MAKING FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT DECISIONS, BUYING TRUCKED-IN WATER, SELLING THEIR STOCK, AND REDUCING COSTS ANY WAY THEY CAN. AND STILL THEY PERSEVERE, SUPPLYING CHEFS – AND US ALL – WITH SEASONAL AND SPECIALIST PRODUCE. JILL DUPLEIX LOOKS AT HOW WE CAN HELP THOSE AT THE TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN.
INSIDER
Jill Dupleix is a food writer, editor, cookbook author, restaurant critic and co-Director of Australia’s Top Restaurants.
The image on Instagram was of two huge stock trucks pulling in to a farm yard at Llangothlin north of Guyra – the under-the-radar food bowl of the New England region of NSW. The post, from farmer Lucy Mackenzie of UGoose, cattle farmers and specialist suppliers of dressed free range geese, was resilient, but heart- breaking.
“Today has been a hard day,
as 2 B Double trucks arrive to take more of our beautiful cattle away. We cannot keep these cattle here due to this dry [drought],
nor can we afford to – due to the ridiculous cost of fodder / feed. Our hearts break, as these are our beloved breeders, our genetics that we have worked years to build.
This scene of trucks coming and going is happening to thousands
of Aussie farmers every day. For those of you who are not farmers, it is gut-wrenching to load them on, but easier to do this than to watch them starve in the paddocks. I give thanks for the service of all animals affected by this dry everywhere. Tough decisions have to be made, and we are ones who have to
do it. Without our animals,
we have nothing”.
The effects of climate change and crippling drought are felt by our farmers, growers, suppliers and therefore consumers, and it’s the hospo industry’s duty to support and celebrate those on the front line.
NAME YOUR PRODUCER
One of the great recent movements in foodservice has been chefs proudly listing the provenance
of their food on their menus. To know that the duck is from the Great Ocean Road, or the cherries from a third-generation orchardist in Young, connects diners with season and place.
JILL
DUPLEIX
JILL
DUPLEIX