Goomilaroi man Les Knox, Narrabri, is one of the growing number of people who see great potential in the local development and commercialisation of native foods.
Mr Knox wants to help build a local community enterprise which would grow, process and promote native ‘bush tucker’ to provide jobs, encourage Aboriginal heritage awareness and provide what are proven to be healthy foods.
Mr Knox has been working with Dr Angela Pattison who is carrying out research into the many different kinds of plants which grow in the district and have been a staple source of food for thousands of years.
Recently Mr Knox and others met at the University of Sydney Plant Breeding Institute for an information sharing event and to review progress on Dr Pattison’s work and meet like minded people.
“I would like to see us utilise all these natural foods for a healthy lifestyle,” said Mr Knox.
“We would never run short of supply.
“The list is endless,” said Mr Knox.
“We want to work with Dr Pattison and support her research.”
Mr Knox and others sees potential for a local native foods industry – it’s a business idea whose time has come, he believes.
He has adopted a name for the enterprise – Garaarr Gundal Bush Foods.
“‘Garaarr’ means grass and ‘gundal’ means bread,” Les said.
“We can develop the grasses and plants to make flour which can be used for all kinds of foods.
“I would like to see this commercialised with the aim of having local people involved, see jobs created for locals.
“We will be working with people from other regions, including Herbie Smith at Wellington, for example, who sells bush tucker.
His business is called ‘Dreamtime Tucka’.
“I would like to see local food outlets involved in selling native plant sourced foods,” said Mr Knox.
“I aim to launch a business, but want to make it a community based project and to take this as far as we can.
“It’s not about making anyone rich, it’s about what we can do for the whole community and down to individuals.
With money raised by the enterprise we could fund individuals who need support, perhaps to attend away sports fixtures, go away to study, or whatever.”
Les has chosen Garaarr Gundal Bush Foods as a name for the venture and will be investigating a structure to take the project forward.
He is looking for support and advice from within the Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal communities and is keen to hear from people interested.
As reported in The Courier on Tuesday, the leader of a research program into how native grains could be incorporated into modern food supply chains, Dr Angela Pattison, says there’s a real niche that Narrabri should be investing in.
“By focusing on active reconciliation and creating a strategy for environmental restoration in the region through native grain harvesting, we can turn ideas into action,” she said.
“We have met many people from various parts of the supply chain who are keen to see native grains go from paddock-to-plate.”
Dr Pattison and the University of Sydney Plant Breeding Institute recently teamed up with social enterprise, Black Duck Foods, for this year’s NAIDOC Week to deliver a knowledge sharing event on local grains and traditional bush tucker.
At their Narrabri research base, the university hosted the collaborative event that highlighted the area’s native vegetation.
“We hope this event can show how scientific research and practical training can support the growth of this culturally significant industry,” Dr Pattison said.
See more like this:
- Native plants program a recipe for success
- Native grains project draws on traditional knowledge, modern research
- Plant Breeding Institute’s key role in industry, community
Native grasses produce flour which can be used for a range of baked products like these presented at the Sydney University Plant Breeding Institute.
