Past Programs
Agriculture - 2005
Organic Food
31/12/2005
We turn our attention not just to organic food but to organic plants generally. We want to find out what the advantages, if any, of organics are and how you can be sure that you really are getting something organic. We'll be joined by Scott Kinnear, Director of Biological Farmers Australia – which is the largest organic farmers' collective in the country and which, through its subsidiary, Australian Certified Organic, certifies more than half of the organic products sold in Australia – and Jerry Colby-Williams, famous as a presenter on ABC TV's Gardening Australia, director of the Seed Savers' Foundation, and proprietor of Brisbane city's first sustainable house and garden.
Hunters and Gatherers
24/12/2005
Our ancient ancestors survived by hunting and gathering until about 12,000 years ago. In the settled and industrialised world we live in today some isolated societies have retained their ancient practices, but have the rest of us given up the time-consuming and exhausting practice of collecting fruit and vegetables and chasing animals in the wild?
Well, I've discovered that we haven't. Even though our farmers produce enough food for everyone and our supermarket shelves are stocked to overflowing, we continue to keep our eyes open for a free lunch. Hunting and gathering seems to be deeply etched into our psyche. And in Australia we have an advantage because living off the land is a relatively recent memory for us. Kerry Stewart talks to some modern-day hunters and gatherers.
Heirloom Music and Heirloom Vegetables
17/12/2005
This week, we discuss the connections between food and music with somebody who is involved in the production of both. Simon Rickard is Head Gardener at the Diggers Garden Club in Victoria, overseeing the gardens at Heronswood on the Mornington Peninsula and St Erth in the Central Highlands; but he is also player of the baroque bassoon with, among other groups, The Orchestra of the Antipodes, who have accompanied all the productions of Pinchgut Opera. So he's professionally concerned with both heirloom plants and heirloom music.
British Food
12/11/2005
The award-winning food writer Jill Norman has just embarked on the writing of The Oxford Companion to the Food of the British Isles. She talks here about her work on the book and, in particular, what went wrong with British food. Should we blame the supremacy of meat in the British diet? Should we blame the industrial revolution for drawing the people away from the land? Should we perhaps even blame the great food writer Elizabeth David for diverting British attention to the food of the Mediterranean?
Hunters and Gatherers
17/09/2005
Our ancient ancestors survived by hunting and gathering until about 12,000 years ago. In the settled and industrialised world we live in today some isolated societies have retained their ancient practices, but have the rest of us given up the time-consuming and exhausting practice of collecting fruit and vegetables and chasing animals in the wild?
Well, I've discovered that we haven't. Even though our farmers produce enough food for everyone and our supermarket shelves are stocked to overflowing, we continue to keep our eyes open for a free lunch. Hunting and gathering seems to be deeply etched into our psyche. And in Australia we have an advantage because living off the land is a relatively recent memory for us. Kerry Stewart talks to some modern-day hunters and gatherers.
Organic Food
30/07/2005
On the weekend of Organics Expo in Sydney, we turn our attention not just to organic food but to organic plants generally. We want to find out what the advantages, if any, of organics are and how you can be sure that you really are getting something organic. We'll be joined by Scott Kinnear, Director of Biological Farmers Australia - which is the largest organic farmers' collective in the country and which, through its subsidiary, Australian Certified Organic, certifies more than half of the organic products sold in Australia. - and Jerry Colby-Williams, famous as a presenter on ABC TV's Gardening Australia, director of the Seed Savers' Foundation, and proprietor of Brisbane city's first sustainable house and garden.
