WAX team members Matt Baida and Corey Brown recently participated in a three part workshop based on knowing, growing and eating edible native plants. With less the 2% of pre-European vegetation remaining across the Adelaide Plains, the workshop, run by the South Australian Native Food Association (SANFA), aimed to promote and educate on the importance and cultural significance of native plant species in our landscape. With talks from Neville Bonny (former president of SANFA) and numerous local growers, Matt and Corey began to realise that native foods are making a slow climb up the dietary ladder of many Australians.
With local growers harbouring a passion for the benefits of growing and eating native plants and helping us to reconsider our food choices. There is a battle to introduce these products into the mainstream with a slow and steady approach seeing the public opinion on edible wild foods begin to shift to one of acceptance as they discover their uses in tasty recipes. Our growers, however, are not only aware of their great flavours but are also privy to their nutritional value. Whilst there is still a lot of research to be done into species such as Lemon Myrtle, Muntrie, Wattle Seed and the Quandong, the aboriginal people have known for some time the superior vitamin and mineral content. With edible native plants being adapted to our growing conditions and providing important links to South Australia’s remaining fragmented remnant vegetation, the future for our growers looks positive. Matt and Corey both unanimously agreed the highlight for the workshops were the tasting sessions, where they got to dig into dishes that included wattle seed pavlova with quandong topping, muntries berry jelly slice and lemon myrtle sausages, giving them a glimpse into the culinary possibilities of native plants. For further information please visit, http://www.sanativefoods.org.au/.