SLOW Food members Peter Kenyon and John Newton have encouraged Sydneysiders to use Sydney’s Seasonal Food: A Slow Food Guide as one means of supporting Sydney region farmers and fishermen.

The volunteer-writers of the Guide say that if eaters bow to the dictates of Australia’s two major food grocery chains – which care only about price – ‘we’ll end up bypassing smaller, local growers in favour of larger, more industrial producers and imports’.

In the comprehensive 40-page Guide, from which the $10 sale proceeds support Slow Food Sydney projects, Peter and John write that larger growers often can produce food more cheaply ‘but smaller growers can produce a more diverse range of crops and get them to market faster’.

‘Local growers also look after the land around our cities and provide the attractive rural landscapes we so enjoy. Losing this connection to our food supply is dangerous to our health and our culture. Strong societies have always been built on agriculture. We cannot afford to lose ours to the tenuous promise of a more efficient ‘somewhere else’.’

The Guide includes lists of local, seasonally-produced food month by month and detailed comments about the availability of particular varieties.

‘The zone which we consider local is the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain farming regions to the south-west and north-west of the city,’ write Peter and John. ‘When we can’t (find produce that’s local), then we specify New South Wales or, in some extreme cases, such as rare turkeys bred seasonally, we point the reader to a useful source, wherever it may be.’

The Guide also contains very useful information about Sydney seafood and the breeding and raising of animals for meat, comprising beef, lamb, goat, pork and poultry, including game.

The Guide is available for purchase at selected Sydney farmers’ markets, such as Eveleigh and Taylor Square, and from retailers, including Granny Smith Natural Food Market in Turramurra. Peter and John hope that chefs and independent grocers and butchers concerned about food diversity and seasonality will also stock the Guide.

Buying the Guide
Retail price: $10.00 plus postage

Contact:

• Peter Kenyon at Granny Smith Natural Food Market by email or telephone 02 9988 3787, or call at 6 Princes Road, Turramurra NSW 2074

Interested re-sellers should also contact Peter at Granny Smith to discuss wholesale purchases.