Rural Aid supports food education campaign

Rural Aid has thrown its support behind a campaign to help Australians better understand where their food comes, how to eat seasonally and ways they can stretch their “food dollars” further.

The National Farmers Federation (NFF) inspired campaign featuring Sydney-based culinary experts Alex Elliott-Howery and Jaimee Edwards from Cornersmith will showcase a different Aussie-grown product every week for the next six weeks.

Recent research commissioned by the NFF found that 51 per cent of the Australian population is “extremely” or “very” concerned about fresh food and grocery costs.

Rural Aid CEO John Warlters said it was also concerning that same number of people said they only “know a little” about Australian farming and agriculture, according to the new research.

Mr Warlters said while Australian farmers were world-renowned for the quality of their produce and their effciency, closer to home many people were less familiar with how their food was grown and how to make the most of their food purchases.

“At Rural Aid our mission is to safeguard our farmers – our food producers, before, during and after natural disasters, but we also aim to be a bridge that connects city and country,” Mr Warlters said.

NFF president Fiona Simson said recognising the value of food started with learning just how much work “our farmer put into growing it”.

“How often do we grab lettuce from the shelf for a few dollars without even thinking it has spent 12 weeks being nurtured on a farm,” Ms Simson said.

“We want people to meet the farmers who are growing their food so the next time they’re in the supermarket, they think about how the bread they are buying might have come from the wheat grown by Brad Jones in WA or when they serve up a Sunday roast they think of how passionate

Ellen Litchfeld from SA is about growing the best quality lamb to feed their family.”

The campaign will be delivered under the NFFled Australian Farmers platform and will ‘open the gate’ so everyone can see farmers at work for themselves.

“We will look at leafy greens, lamb, oranges, bread, cheese and carrots and meet a farmer who has grown that food, and hear from the Cornersmith team to learn tricks of the trade to make that food go further and receive simple recipes to try,” Ms Simson said.

Sydney-based Alex Elliott-Howery and Jaimee Edwards’ food journey spans cafes, cookbooks and social media.

“We love to preserve, cook and celebrate produce in an effort to save it from landfll and educate Australians to get into the kitchen for fun, sustainability and to save money,” Alex said.

“Join us as we teach you how to eat seasonally, store produce correctly, make the most of leftovers, use up the odds and ends, glam up the staples and get swoony about stale bread (yes, really!).”

The adventure begins this week on the Australian Farmers social media accounts. Tips, tricks, recipes and farmer profles can be found at farmers.org.au