A year of seasonal eating…

ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE

Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver, author of the internationally bestselling The Poisonwood Bible, opens her home to us, as she and her family embark on a year of eating locally, and mainly from their own back garden. Including recipes for seasonal eating and tips on dealing with a deluge of tomatoes and life without bananas, Kingsolver makes a passionate case for putting food back at the centre of the political and family agenda.

100 Mile Picnic

And if you’d like to read more about plans for this year’s 100 Mile Picnic, there’s also an article on that in today’s Dungog Chronicle!

Update on Allan Park progress

Check out today’s Dungog Chronicle and Gloucester Advocate for an update on how plans are progressing to improve facilities at Stroud’s Allan Park — or click here to read the article online!

An Australian story of sustainable living

THE WOMAN ON THE MOUNTAIN

Sharyn Munro

The truly remarkable story of a unique woman living on a remote mountain wildlife refuge — nearing sixty, solitary, solar-powered and almost self-sufficient — and the ups and downs of life that led her there. Full of energy, humour and love for her own and the wider environment, this candid book inspires, entertains and informs. As Peter Hay commented, ‘You are with her on the mountain. You are cheering on her impassioned manifesto for the land and its rich, embattled mesh of life. And you know you are reading a book that might change your life.’

Bad news … and good news

Let’s start with the bad news! Due to unforeseen circumstances, we’ve had to make the tough decision to scale down the banquet for this year. With one of our team members pregnant, another exploring new business opportunities, and two more occupied with other major events in their lives, we felt it was only fair to you to call a halt to our full-blown banquet plans. The last thing we’d want to do is put on a banquet that didn’t live up to the high standard set last year. So, our apologies for getting your hopes up, but we’ll be back next year! Now to the good news… We don’t want the 100 Mile Banquet momentum to fade completely and we are still very committed to raising funds for Stroud’s community playground. We are investigating opportunities for a community event — on a smaller scale — in September at Allan Park, where we will keep the 100 Mile theme, but perhaps link it with a tree-planting event too. We’ll keep you posted.

Introducing our guest chef

This year’s banquet will be highlighting the talents of Hunter chef Megan Garnham. Megan has owned and operated two award-winning restaurants, with her cafe, Syrup at Lorn, winning ‘Best Licensed Cafe’ in the Hunter region for 2009. Currently, Megan runs Soul Foods in Lorn, a deli and wholefood store, and is an active member of the Slow Food Movement. She also participated in the Maitland Taste Festival held earlier this year. Her philosophy is to support local produce wherever possible, showcasing artisan producers and using only Australian-made products in order to reduce the environmental footprint. She is fortunate in that her horticulturalist husband Mark grows most of their vegies in his biodynamic garden. As one of Megan’s passions is food art, we’re confident her dishes for the banquet will look as spectacular as they taste!

Banquet 2010 — Food for the Soul!

We know there hasn’t been an update for a while, but that’s because we’ve been hard at work finalising the details for this year’s banquet. And here they are! The Stroud 100 Mile Banquet for 2010 will have ‘Food for the Soul’ as its theme. We’ll be having a guest chef (more on that later) and have taken note of your requests for more places by increasing the seating to 150 people. This has meant a move to Riverwood Downs, and we’re delighted to have them on board. It also means that those of you who live slightly further afield can now make a weekend of it by taking advantage of their accommodation options (www.riverwooddowns.com.au). We also thought we’d choose a slightly cooler time of the year, so we’ll be sitting down to lunch on Saturday, 14 August. Put the date in your diaries now as tickets will be available soon.

Sustainable living Aussie style

LIVING THE GOOD LIFE

Linda Cockburn

Fed up by consumerism and determined to make a difference, Linda Cockburn and her family set themselves the challenge of growing all their own food, living self-sufficiently and enduring six months without spending a dollar — not on bills (there were none), not on transport (they rode bikes) and not on groceries (they grew and harvested their food themselves) — all for the good of the planet! Through drought, plagues of fruit flies, and the relentless demands of a goat called Possum, they became fitter, healthier and happier, and delighted in the simple pleasures of being reconnected with nature. This is an inspiring account for anyone who’s ever been interested in taking care of our Earth a little better, and will leave you looking afresh at your own backyard.

Gloucester Farmers Market

The Gloucester Farmers Market kicked off last month at Billabong Park and was a fabulous success. (Click here to read the article on it by Kim Honan, of ABC Mid North Coast.) Held on the second Saturday of every month from 8.30am to 12 noon, the market is a true growers’ market, where stallholders grow, raise or produce the items they sell. It’s the perfect place to buy everything from Wagyu beef to honey! The next market is this coming Saturday, 13 March. Don’t miss it! For more information, visit the website: http://www.gloucesterfarmersmarket.com.au

It’s a toxic world out there!

Slow Death by Rubber Duck

Rick Smith & Bruce Lourie

In the investigative tradition of Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 9/11) and Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) comes a book that will change the way you look at everything around you. When Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie decided to tell the story of pollution in our modern world by using their own bodies as laboratories, they could not have known what they were about to discover. They ingested and inhaled a host of things that surround all of us all the time, from mercury-laden tuna to flame-retardant chemicals in clothes and furniture, to toxins in plastics, shampoos and deodorants. Slow Death by Rubber Duck exposes the extent to which we are being poisoned every day of our lives, both in our homes and our workplaces. It tells the shocking story of corporate giants who manufacture these toxins, the government officials who let it happen and the effects on people across the globe. Funny, thought-provoking and disturbing, Slow Death by Rubber Duck offers solutions for how we might be healthier, safer and more aware.