Across Australia there are hundreds of climatic and geographic areas perfect for growing a vast variety of  nutritious foods to suit all cuisines, tastes, preferences and styles of living.  However, due to “Free” Trade Agreements which enable importation of cheap “foods” for the duopoly of supermarkets across our nation, financial and personal incentives to grow locally have gone.

In addition, the knowledge to grow foods agroecologically is also diminishing.  This leaves our population dependent on cheap imported goods with scant information available as to how the foods were grown, which toxic chemicals were used in the growing, how long ago they were grown and what nutritional benefits there may be.

Food insecurity is widespread across Australia yet quite invisible, unless you hear what OzHarvest and other food rescue organisations are encountering.

ORICoop recently submitted a paper to the survey, which you can read here.

S. L . O. W. is a revival of knowledge, interest and care about what can be grown, when, where, how and by whom so our relationships with proper foods can be reinstated. This is taking responsibility for our food supplies and this is our food culture.

Otherwise we are left to the vagaries of geopolitical determinants which take away our sufficiency.

In the process, food literacy is increased; an example is learning about our bodies and what they require to function optimally in a state of robust physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual wellbeing. When we know what is beneficial for our miraculous bodies, more informed choices are made to nourish, not just satisfy emotion-based hunger cravings.

Let’s get started with ACTIONS we can all take… each day, starting today, from wherever you live… let your mouth water at the thoughts and tastes… of local and slow food amongst all our communities.

• Buy – Barter – Grow the raw ingredients first
  • Plan your weekly menu around what you can source locally first
  • Grow whatever you know or feel confident to grow. Grow more than you intended!
  • Barter – share with your neighbours, friends and community
  • Buy locally – as much as you possibly can. Perhaps soon this might be all you can buy – so make the most of it!
• Join a local food Coop or start one to buy your local bulk goods. Buy organic first, Australian second and, lastly, imported.
• Buy from your local family or Cooperative or independently owned retailer; encourage and enable them to stock as much as possible from local growers… research and introduce more growers.
• Only go to major retailers when there is no other option locally and encourage your mates to do the same. Less and less.

• Share recipes – food tips
  • Start to understand “seasonality” – eating with the seasons and what you can source. Be creative – be driven by what you love to eat and what you can grow.
  • Eat from the “high performance brain food” first – raw ingredients – more often including:
    • Raw salads
    • Fresh vegetables
    • Local meat
    • Products from grass-fed dairy cows
    • Whole grains
    • Clean water
  • Cook in company – learn how to eat seasonally and cook raw food more often
  • Feast locally every week
• Commit to not eating/consumer Ultra Processed Foods – as much as possible including:
  • Sweetened foods
  • Processed foods (frozen products, ready made meals)
  • Confectionary
  • Sweetened drinks
  • Artificially flavoured, products with ingredients you can’t pronounce
  • Products with more numbers than raw ingredients (or any numbers!)

** It has been a decade since the Australian Government first embarked on a Food Security Initiative. ORICoop provided a submission in 2025,  which leans into this concept of localisation and community driven resilience.