Food History

Today I want to look at food history from a slightly different angle to usual. Mostly I look at the past. That’s what history is, after all. Occasionally I link in with the present and give you surveys of markets and food fairs and try to show how what we eat fits in with out food history. Today I want to show you how some groups work actively to change the way we see our food and change the food we eat. By changing our foodways, the food history that some future historian will find, is changed.

Today I’m fascinated by how much of the food we eat was first accepted in Europe and then made its way to our plates. The US does better than Australia in this regard. Turkey and corn are far more acceptable food than kangaroo and bush tomato.

There is an active push by researchers and government and producers to change this in Australia. Fifty years ago only about five non-indigenous Australians even knew what bush tomato was, and tourists were unwilling to even think about roo on the menu. “You can’t eat Skippy,” visitors told me when I was a child.

This page has a good overview of what’s happening to change things as does this. Some of the native species have already made it into common food in Australia – lemon myrtle and wattleseed are two of these. Others are on their way. I can’t wait for the day when I can buy finger limes at my local grocer or my farmers’ market. I’m very impatient for the day when bush tomato has more predictable crop cycles (until recently it was all wild harvested, and it’s still an unpredictable buy – which is a pain in midwinter when I crave roast potatoes with butter and bush tomato).

It’s only a matter of time before Australians incorporate more bushfood into our diet. This isn’t a chance happening, however. There are a lot of people working very hard behind the scenes to make Australians aware that European tastes are not the only ones and that an environment that’s harsh for wheat or mint may be entirely perfect for quandong or aniseed myrtle. And that’s what food history is all about. Finding changes and watching them and – when they’re happening before your eyes – being astonished at amazing new directions.