Erle Levey
It’s a ground-breaking initiative that has added to the understanding of benefits good, healthy, sustainable and fair food brings. Today ERLE LEVEY looks at the delegates Slow Food Noosa is sending to the world-wide gathering of farmers, producers, artisan and those in the hospitality industry in Italy.
It’s a world-wide movement involving more than 160 countries and is held every two years in the Italian city of Turin.
Slow Food International’s six-day gathering of farmers, producers, artisans, chefs and others involved in the hospitality industry – Terra Madre Salone del Gusto – is more like a family get-together.
To be held in September this year, it reinforces tried-and-true methods while collaborating on the benefits of food produced in a clean, sustainable and fair way – healthy soil, healthy food, healthy life.
Slow Food Noosa is excited and proud to announce it will continue the highly-innovative program of sending delegates to the festival as an investment in the Noosa, Mary Valley and Gympie regions.
The initiative has been part of the Slow Food Noosa philosophy of providing support for selected delegates to further their expertise, be exposed to new ideas as well as age-old traditions of farming.
At the same time the delegates will take the quality of our produce to the world, mix with fellow participants and either attend or present workshops and seminars.
Those who have attended previously regard the experience as life and career changing, experiencing the foods that have been grown, found or produced; the techniques involved in maturing, fermenting, brewing or curing; the methods of harvesting, processing and presenting the massive range of foodstuff.
The successful delegates are Beth O’Leary of Woombye Cheese Company, Josh Smallwood of Noosa Cartel, and Tania Wiesmayr-Freeman of The Fermentier.
They will be joined by Delegate Lead and Slow Food Noosa Snail Kids Coordinator, Di Seels, and a number of self-funded members.
There were some amazing applications put forward and the panel of judges used a selection criteria to determine the final decision about who would be representing Slow Food Noosa at this year’s event.
Judges commented that those who missed out this time should be encouraged to apply in 2026 as the standard was so high.
Successful applicants provided a balance of producers and hospitality to cover the different aspects of Slow Food. They were considered the strongest representatives of Slow Food Noosa and the area that we are responsible for – whether Noosa, Mary Valley, Cooloola or Gympie.
Beth O’Leary from Woombye Cheese Company has the chance to benefit greatly from the experience of being able to meet with cheese manufacturers from one of the most dynamic areas in Italy.
That experience should translate incrementally to our region, Queensland and Australia, with the team at Woombye Cheese Company having already shown their credentials on the national and international stage for the cheeses they produce.
The second delegate is Josh Smallwood from Noosa Cartel, who will be able to observe and appreciate the ideas that come from being exposed to so many different levels of food preparation – whether it be markets, street stalls, cafes, family-run restaurants or higher end food artisans. The regions of Tuscany, Piedmont and Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna in particular are known for their high-quality farm produce and presentation.
The third delegate is Tania Wiesmayr-Freeman from The Fermentier – producers of natural living fermented food and drinks. Tania’s experience at Terra Madre will see her exposed to many difference regional foods, the history of some of the producers, the fact that there’s balsamic vinegar and wines being brewed in barrels from before the times of Christopher Columbus.
Tania is looking forward to learning more about the long-held methods of preserving foods, in line with her family history from Europe.
Di Seels, an outdoor specialist educator at Sunshine Beach State Primary School, and co-ordinator of the Slow Food Noosa Snail Kids program will attend as the lead delegate and will present on the world stage of the Snail Kids program.
Slow Food Snail Kids (SFSK) runs throughout several schools in the Noosa region, to help students understand where their food comes from and the benefits of buying and eating seasonal local produce.
In doing so, the program helps fulfil the growing need for healthier eating habits in school children.
Di developed Snail Kids for Slow Food Noosa in 2020 and has been driving the program forward, locally, nationally and internationally.
In 2023 alone, fifteen SFSK programs were delivered, involving five schools and more than 1000 children.
Having presented the SFSK program at the 2022 Terra Madre festival, Di has forwarded a proposal to do the same for Terra Madre Salone Del Gusto 2024, with Tania Wiesmayr-Freeman.
As well as making lasting change for children, the program will put Slow Food Noosa on the international map.
MULTIPLE BENEFITS IN SHARING KNOWLEDGE
There are multiple benefits to the Slow Food Noosa program that sponsors local producers, artisans or chefs to attend the international festival in Turin, Italy.
Along with learning how other producers and artisans prepare, package and market their products, the biggest impact comes through a sense of belonging – belonging to a food family across the world.
University of the Sunshine Coast business lecturer Dr Melissa Innes, who presented at the 2022 Turin conference, said the experience of walking into Terra Madre was immensely exciting and inspiring.
“You realise as you look around that this is a global movement you’re involved in – an awakening across nations of the critical nature of healthy soil, healthy food, and healthy people.
At the 2022 conference, Dr Innes presented about the crucial role of foresight and shared knowledge in alternative food networks.
“The voluntary nature of members in such organisations as Slow Food Noosa, highlights the importance of nurturing, capturing, and sharing knowledge that will contribute to the sustainability of food networks and their members in the future,’’ she said.
“This is important, given the issues we’ve witnessed globally in food security during supply chain incidents, such as those evident through the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Slow Food Noosa vice president and regular self-funded patron at Turin, Rod Lees said the delegates to Terra Madre would be exposed to the colour and competency of producers from around the world and in return they would bring that back to the Noosa-Gympie region.
“The other side is that they will also take knowledge of the quality and the techniques that we have here that we can share with the world.
“What we want to show is the value of this program – both to the individuals that we send there and to the broader community – on the expertise and the knowledge that has been brought back.
“I want to underline the value of this in terms of healthy soil, healthy food, healthy body.
“The benefits of this program include the exposure to different cultures and ideas, the ability to inform others of the quality of produce here, the ability to mix on the world stage and share ideas, understand the initiatives, the benefits of being part of such a family.’’
THE DELEGATES
Beth O’Leary of Woombye Cheese Co is proud of the fact they make cheese – including varieties acknowledged as among Australia’s best – on the Sunshine Coast.
“While Woombye Cheese has been established for 10 years, we only recently took over in 2022 and have reinvigorated the business.
“With many small cheesemakers closing, we are keen to help keep this industry thriving through having fun with cheese, education and sharing all aspects of our business.
“Cheese is an inherently slow food due to the time it takes to make. It’s a food that brings people together for a shared experience and it’s made by hand, using locally sourced products. It’s such an emotive food and that’s what I love to share when people visit us.
“We are looking at a collaboration this year with Whites IGAs to use their waste scraps from fruit and veges and convert it into the ash for our Woombye Ash Brie.
“Having become very entrenched in our business, I understand how vital it is to taste and experience what others do in order to find ways to be better.
“We have a long way to go with cheese in Australia and I can imagine a trip like this (to Italy) might help with understanding how to consolidate and push this industry forward.
“While Slow Food as a business is being about good, clean and fair, I think we need to speak to the romantic side of it too – the coming together and sharing conversation over a meal made using local produce.’’
CATERING FOR THE COMMUNITY
Joshua Smallwood at Noosa Cartel creates affordable and clean, ready-made meals for people in the community.
Starting in December 2021, Noosa Cartel utilises word of mouth, social media awareness and by doing some catering which spreads the business.
“We believe very strongly in prioritising local, sustainable producers and products,’’ Josh said. “We believe in creating connections and relationships with those producers and helping our customers be aware of their great work.’’ An array of local seasonal produce is always the first option when planning meals.
Noosa Cartel also has an extremely small amount of waste in the kitchen as they freeze ready-made meals and only take pre-orders for fresh meals.
Attending Terra Madre will be a great benefit to Josh, as more education and different viewpoints from chefs and producers from around the world would inspire and teach him to do more, and provide the tools to educate the community further about the Slow Food philosophies and ways to support local Slow Food members.
“I will be able to provide a viewpoint from an owner/chef’s perspective on some of the challenges and positives coming from our region.
“Having worked in Noosa for 10 years in high-end restaurants and now running my own food business, I can show other delegates how successful and beneficial the Slow Food movement has been to my business. I can also show people how the connections I’ve made have increased the public’s awareness of our philosophies.
“Basically, growing up as a kid in a big city in Australia I had no idea about where my food was coming from or how it got to my plate.
“When I finished high school and realised my passion was food, I started cooking in restaurants and over the past 21 years I’ve come to realise that it is so important to take accountability for what I feed my customers.
“Watching my daughters grow up, I am determined to educate them about the food they eat and how it got to their plate. I believe we can do a lot more with our youth and educating them on making informed choices about food and spreading the awareness of slow food in our community.’’
THE WAY TO INNER HEALTH
Tania Wiesmayr-Freeman and Andrew Freeman own and operate The Fermentier – makers of gourmet raw fermented food and drinks to enhance gut and overall health.
They utilise traditional manufacturing methods and use raw natural ingredients and real cultures – not powders.
Their range includes three types of sauerkraut, one traditional kimchi, four kombuchas and a water kefir.
The Fermentier products are sold in more than 70 outlets from Gympie to Brisbane including independent grocery stores, wholefood stores, cafes, restaurants, and farmers markets.
Over the past three years the quality of their products has been seen with multiple medal wins at the Royal Sydney Fine Food Show, and the Royal Melbourne Australian Fine Food Show. Live dietary microbes are used to support good health.
Tania and Andrew are committed to reducing landfill and plastic waste by using fully recyclable glass jars, bottles, lids. Most of the glassware comes from Australia.
To reduce food miles and pollution local businesses and local produce is used wherever possible. And organic produce is used where feasible.
Tania is now a member of the Slow Food (Noosa) Snail Kids sub-committee and is looking forward to continuing presenting school sessions to increase awareness of traditional fermented foods for health and to help children connect with food.
“Having been a clinical dietitian working in hospitals, in private practice, and universities for over 25 years, I have been promoting healthy eating to enhance life, reduce disease and to promote longevity,’’ Tania said. “Integral to this, is encouraging people to eat whole foods, to cook meals and to eat less highly processed and fast foods.’’
“In addition I promote people eating together, cooking together, and being mindful when eating. All these principles perfectly align with those of Slow Food.
“However, Slow Food adds additional depth to these healthy eating principles by recognising the importance of food sovereignty – trying to be more self-sufficient with our food supply, producing less waste and promoting the maintenance of traditional food-making and local producers.’’
At the 2024 Terra Madre festival Tania is looking forward to co-presenting a session with Di Seels, explaining how sauerkraut is made and providing participants with the opportunity of squeezing the brine out of cabbage which is part of the process.
Tania intends to use the journey to explore the lifestyle and Slow Food producers in and around Turin.
“Having heard and taught about the health benefits of the Mediterranean lifestyle, I look forward to being able to get some lived experience into it.
“Markets visited frequently by mothers and restaurants to purchase fresh fish, processed meats, cheese, fresh local produce and baked goods.
“The custom of visiting the farms to purchase their milk/dairy products. It will be interesting to ponder the reduced food miles, minimised packaging and plastics, community relationships and the feeling of belonging.’’
That belonging creates a renewed energy and inspiration to bring good food to our communities.
The inspiration gained from seeing the sheer scope and commitment of producers from all regions of Italy and beyond is quite phenomenal.
The impact is evident on delegates when they return with the renewed excitement for the work they do, realising that their values are shared by so many and gaining an understanding they never would have if they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes.
