Flour flew about the room; mashed potato was pummeled and rolled into long ‘snakes’ and the kids of Darlington Public School were thrilled. They were on a mission to hand-make gnocchi with sage burnt butter. Add to the theatre a Wiggle (Murray Cook) and one of Australia’s leading chefs (Jared Ingersoll) and the kids went wild (as did a large percentage of the adults). It was the perfect setting for the launch of the 2011 True Food Guide – Kids Edition at Danks Street Depot on the 2nd of March.
Put together by the hardworking team at True Food Australia (TFA), the guide is a small booklet tackling some BIG (and complex) issues.
Concerned with a lack of adequate food labelling laws in Australia and a belief that consumers have a fundamental right to make informed choices about what they eat, the first True Food Guide was launched in 2010. The Kid’s Edition is a natural extension of the original.
Of greatest concern to TFA, is the introduction “by stealth” of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) into the food chain but more so, the lack of transparency and public access to the results of research into the impact (short and long term) of GMOs on the human body.
“At the moment, there is no real way of consumers knowing exactly what is in the food they buy and eat,” says Greenpeace GM campaigner, Laura Kelly. “GM food has never been proven safe to eat and many parents are concerned. We are in the dark when it comes to feeding our family.”
Enter the True Food Kid’s Guide. Whilst it’s a far from exhaustive list, it’s a great start. The foods listed in the booklet fall into two categories. Those that are certified GM free (big green tick) or those that contain or could potentially contain GMOs. (big red cross). Personally, I’ll be giving my copy to my young children and will henceforth ask them to start looking for the products with green ticks whenever we head to the supermarket. I imagine they’ll become like little detectives tracking down the “good stuff”. Sadly, this means no more Vegemite for us. This is because, until someone can categorically prove to me that GM has no negative impact on our bodies, I will be very suspicious about it use and will do all I can to avoid it. To me that’s simple logic. And as a farm owner, I’ll also be keeping an eye on crop production in the Southern Tablelands.
True Food Australia has attracted some powerful and vocal ambassadors. Leading the charge is the passionate and incredibly talented chef Jared Ingersoll (chef and owner Danks Street Depot and Cotton Duck). He is the outspoken champion of sustainable, ethical eating, equity in food distribution and an advocate of biodiversity and building healthy ecosystems. He is deeply suspicious of GM. Jared continues to make the simple point: “We need more information. It is preposterous that the public is denied access to the results of research on the impact of GM. I encourage everyone to publicly question the need for GM. Write to your local food suppliers, your local MP, the large food suppliers such as Woolworths and Coles and demand that they consider not selling products with GM. If everyone does this, we might just get some answers and results.”
Murray Cook (“Red” Wiggle) has also signed on as an Ambassador of True Food Australia. “In my line of work, I obviously deal with families every day. I also have children of my own. I totally support the work of True Food Australia and the publication of the True Food Guide for Kids. Anything that empowers parents and educates them about good, healthy food choices, has to be a good thing.”
Costa Georgiadis, the passionate and effusive horticulturist, landscape architect and star of Costa’s Gardening Odyssey (SBS) made a salient comment to me during the launch: “What nature doesn’t understand, it can’t process. No one has proved to me that GM isn’t poison and subsequently won’t sit in our systems for years to come and impact us negatively. I’m happy to support the work of True Food Australia”.
True Food Australia is rocking a very big boat and I believe should be congratulated for doing so. For many, the jury is still out on GMOs and their use. I understand this and accept that some people will not agree with what I have written. However, I would challenge anyone to disagree with my view that we have the right to expect open, transparent dialogue with those companies advocating GM use and free access to the results of research on its efficacy and its impact on the human body.
It was a diverse crowd at the launch. There were children, celebrities, gardeners, farmers, agronomists, scientists, chefs, parents, educators, activists and even a catholic priest. The one thing we all had in common? A simple request for truth in labelling, and the right to make a choice based on that.
The latest True Food Guide can be downloaded at http://www.truefood.org.au/truefoodguide/
Photographs courtesy of Katrina Crook with grateful appreciation from Inside Cuisine
Could not grab feed.
