‘THE speck of a hawk over the Barossa Valley today,’ reports The Weekend Australian Magazine food writer Necia Wilden, ‘is the threat of urban sprawl and the loss of precious agricultural land to housing developments.’ Wilden’s story, published in the 21-22 Nov 209 edition, centres on Barossa Slow, Slow Food Adelaide and Barossa convivium’s biennial food festival, held in South Australia early in October. The challenge on which Wilden reports is faced by farmers and vignerons producing food and wine in the hinterland of all major cities in Australia – the world’s most urbanised nation, despite its vast continental landmass. At stake, says prominent South Australian food identity and Slow Food member Jan Angas, is not just the integrity of the Barossa, but of every food and wine region across the country. ‘If we can’t save a region with a food culture as authentic as this one,’ she asks, ‘how can we save other regions?’

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• Battle for the Barossa [The Weekend Australian Magazine 21-22 Nov 2009]