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The 100 Mile Trial

New Discoveries

November 28
Sarah's comments on salt dilemma.
Sorry to take so long to get back to you on the salt issue. You raise some very interesting questions. It certainly prompted me to have a long hard think about the things I will struggle to go without. The difficulty with bending a rule is knowing where to stop and start and I have been thinking about how difficult life without my Murray river salt flakes will be.
I wonder if it may be easier to not have the bending of rules just for the week and after that we can go back to more flexability. It's just a thought and like you I am not hard and fast about this. I do think a consistent approach is good though. We have decided to not use the produce from the farm and the rabbit wil stay in the freezer and we will consume the rest tonight!!
Looking forward to discussing this further.

 

 

November 25
Jonathon - on yoghurt.
Sadly to say fellow 100 Milers, Jalna’s Bio Dynamic yoghourt comes from the one farm but it’s near Echuca so not within our 100 mile limit.

November 25
Salt. (Nick)
At last rang Cheetham Salt (5275 8000). They process salt in Corio, near Geelong (66 kms). All salt comes from either Price in South Australia (859 kms) or Sea Lake, near Swan Hill in Victoria (355 kms). Retails as Mermaid, Kooka, Sunray, Diamond, Crown brands. Is often mixed up, but as a general rule, higher priced is from SA, lower priced VIC.
I struggle with bending the rules to allow this salt as we've tried to define 'sourced from within 160kms' as grown rather than simply processed. But I also struggle with not having this basic flavor for food. I then had a brainwave. Where is the nearest salt? Yes in our beloved bay! So I began enthusiastically designing my evaporative tray and planning my beach trip when Janet pointed out that our bay is not what it used to be. Little bit of toxic dredging to stir us up our appetites. So after much discussion we decided that if we wanted that salty flavor we could (1) cook everything in butter – yum!, or (2) cook everything with bacon - extra yum! (..very vegan, hey?) ....And after more discussion, realised that the salt in these products most likely come from the same Cheetham plant, given they're the largest producers of salt in Australia. So maybe we could bend the rule for just a pinch of salt. 100 Mile Cafe do!
- Interested to know what you think.

Oats. (Nick)
No luck here. Found that 'WD Seed' (534 56224) is oat processing plant in Creswick, near Ballarat (123 km). They have grain from Victoria but also from NSW. All mixed together. Processing will happen in 2 weeks. Anyone know where Biodynamic Market source their oats from?

November 24
Clarrity around distance of food. Sarah.
Just wanted to clarify if we had discussed consuming produce that has been obtained further from 100 miles if you have been visiting that region. On the weekend we were visiting with our mother in law in Gippsland, who has quite a large garden and gave us some produce as well as soem fresh rabbit from her property and some lemon - tea tree leaves which are great as a tea. We also stopped at a roadside stall and picked up some local spuds and duck eggs. I remember this being discussed at our initial meeting but could not quite remember where we got to.

Nick's response.
Sounds like you had a good weekend with the folks. Missed you and Phil on Saturday. Glad you're still on board.
To some extent, you can decide the parameters of the trial for your household. The general rule is grown within the 160km radius, but there will be exceptions. If we can document the reasons behind these exceptions (like you have) I think it adds to the experience. Underneath it all is each of us trying to get more understanding of where our food comes from. Being aware of our impact and therefore able to be responsible for it in a new way. (Just my thoughts. Others may have different view).

November 24
Map.
After Rita's inquiry about how to let retailers know where the radius extends to, I've put this map in. I suggest you print it out and take it with you. You can view more details by zooming in at http://100milediet.org/get-started/map#

Daylesford Macedon Produce
Great resource! growers, winemakers and food producers of the Daylesford Macedon Region. http://www.dmproduce.com.au

Belmore Biodynamic Meats
137 Miller Street, Thornbury - stock Wessex Saddleback pork from rare pigs at Fernleigh Farms, Trenthan. Open Monday - Friday: 7 am - 5 pm, Saturday: 9 am - 1 pm. Phone: 03 9484 0469 or 03 9484 9661. Email: info@belmorebiodynamicmeats.com.au

Southern Light teas
our hopes for green and black tea have been dashed (sorry Jonathon). Seems Southern Light get their peppermint locally but other herbals yet to be confirmed.

Wangara Game Shop, Kensington
website details. See Jonathon for orders. lhttp://www.wangaragame.com.au/default.html

November 23
100 Mile Cafe. Rita.  
Just to let you all know that I found out tonight that 'The 100 Mile Cafe' is actually still open (but they are closing 20 Dec/closed on Sundays). So, anyway, I am still keen to go to 'The 100 Mile Cafe' over the week of the trial. Level 3, Melbourne Central, 211 La Trobe St, Melbourne Victoria 3000, P 9654 0808 Open Monday to Sat till late.

'Council House Two Eat Drink'.
All food/drinks are not necessarily within a 100 mile radius, but they try to do that as much as possible, as well as source organic produce wherever possible.

November 22
Meeting at Shaun & Neesh's place, Yarraville: minutes
Who: Neesh, Rita, Phil, Jonathon, Nick, Janet, Emma K, Louise, assorted kids. Apologies from Ken, Kim. Everyone was somewhat tired yet managed to formulate a plan!

The big Tick :) – things we have:

* Oranges, grapefruit – Neesh has lots of local ones from neighbourhood trees (<1km).
* Fruit and Veg #1– CERES market. Open Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 9 – 1pm.
* Fruit and Veg #2– Also Romsey (65kms) fruit stall at Yarraville market. Janet just got broad-beans, beetroot, broccoli, potato, apples, silverbeet, pumpkin & asparagus.
* Fruit and Veg #3– WOC and SOC vegie box had these things from within radius this week – 21 Nov (likely same next week): carrots, bok choy, lettuce, squash, apples, oranges. Kim's pretty sure last week's oranges were from the same farm. Plenty of orange juice next week! Squash and carrots may freeze for next week??
* Walnuts from Dandenongs (~50kms) – available at Footscray market – Michaels nut shop.
* Flour – Wheat, Splet and Rye from Powelett Hill Biodynamic Farm in Clunes (148kms) via Biodynamic Marketing. If you haven't heard already, Louise has ordered a giant 25kg bag which you can order some from.
* Eggs – via Biodynamic marketing – 'Spring Plains'/'Bullfrog Gully' dozen free range eggs (ranging from $6.25 for Size 45s to $8.80 for Size 75s.) Spring Plains eggs are from Shelford, near Geelong (106km). Contact Louise to order.
* Bread – major find by Rita. Loafer Bread, 146 Scotchmer St, North Fitzroy. Apparently they get their flour for some products (100 % Rye bread, Spelt bread) from Biodynamic Marketing, and this is milled by Powlett Hill Biod Farm at Clunes. Starter culture maybe from somewhere else, but is likely to be less than 10% of product.
Other leads for bread may be Natural tucker Bakery, North Fitzroy, and Pure Bread Bakey. Yet to chase these leads.
* Fish – Buxton Trout Farm (102km). Fish grown at farm but fishes food pellets are sourced from Tasmania and elsewhere (...and who knows where to source fish for the food pellets come from?). Nancy & Max Leslie are picking up an order of fish on the way through this Friday. They're about $5 for each smoked trout. See Nick to order before Wednesday.
* Chook – Bendigo chicken retails through Wangara Game Shop, Kensington . Whole chook (size 12) is $10.65, and the thigh fillets skin off are $19.35/kg. Bendigo is 154 kms, assuming that farms are in area.
* Oil - Safflower oil (500ml @ $5.90) through Biod Marketing – see Louise. Also Olivessence, Seddon. Has map on wall with actual farms that supply oil. We have a 5L of 'the Jones' Maldon Olive oil. Comes from Maldon (141kms).
* Dairy – Bravo Janet! Yes big find was that local organic dairy farmers in Gippsland have formed together into a co-operative to sell their milk to the bigger guys such as Parmalat and Pureharvest (brands Parmalat Organic & Organic Valley - respectively). This group is marketed under “True Organic” brand - see http://www.trueorganic.com.au/ - and consists of 13 farms, 3 of which fall outside the radius, with two of these 3 being very small farms. It's most likely that this milk is 85-90% within the radius. So we could use Parmallt organic available at Coles, or source it through organic groceries such as Flinders Organic in center of City. True Organic also market the following cheeses: Cheddar, Gouda, Edam, Mozzarella & Pecorino, but avoid the chedder as it travels to Bega for processing before coming back to Victoria. They've also got butter, which is presently stored at Cheltenham. Janet is to pickup a couple of cartons which will be stored in Louise's freezer.
* Honey - Neesh has a 27kg tub on tap, 'Raw Honey' branding, sourced from Yarraville Farmer Market. Yet to clarify the specific area but from within zone. Contact her - BYO container & cash.

The big Questions Marks ??? – things we need:

* Onions? Seems we shall use leeks, shallots, spring onions.
* Tomatoes – home-bottled ones or tinned (may need to chase down loco)
* Blueberries – Louise to chase up at Pompello, Seddon. Also to ask if interested in signing the 100 Mile produce.
* Oats – Nick, the non gluten one is looking for oats... any leads?
* Corn – sure it's grown in the radius, just not ready at this time of year. Hoping that there may be some produce of locally grown corn (ie. polenta, maize flour).. any clues?
* Salt – still yet to confirm with Cheetham Salt in Geelong if any of the salt processed there is actually local, within radius. Will chase up.

Next time we meet:
* Morning Breakfast of the Trial: 7:30am till 9:30, at Louise & Joel's place, Footscray. Phew – early one!
*
Final celebration meal: 6.30pm till 8.30, at Nick & Janet's, Footscray. Another early one!
*
Anyone want to do a 100 Mile Cafe lunch (if they're open) in the meantime?

November 10
For all you Beer drinkers.

Some discussion was had regarding the many micro breweries close to Melbourne but the uncertainty of where the actual malt and grain came from.
Powells Malt is a family-owned and operated business supplying organic beer malt to micro and regional breweries.
They're in 111 Portingales Lane, Romsey, 3434. (65kms) (Grant Powell 8415 0331 Mobile +61 4 9877 4334.
) See article that sheds some light at this Age article
I still don't know here the barley comes from.. but I'm sure the Powells do.

November 9
Alicia's sourdough bread recipe.

1. Take out 200gms out of starter. Add to starter 100ml water and 115gm flour and secured lid. Do this every day or so.
2. To make bread take the 200gms of starter and add 325ml of water. Whisk in. Add 250 gm of flour and 1 1/2 tsp of salt. Mix till combined. Leave for 10 - 14 hours under a cloth.
3. Add 200gm of flour and give a gentle knead. Might take more flour but is designed to be a fairly wet dough (ket hands dusted in flour)Dough should rise much quicker with second installment of flour. Leave to prove for 4 hours
4. Kneed dough for approx 5 minutes until springy and smooth. Shape loaf/loaves and place in an oiled tin or on a tray dusted with semolina.
5. Leave to rise - until 2 times size.
6. Bake in hot oven for 20-30 mins till nice and brown. Bread will sound hollow if you tap the bottom.
It works! Tried and tested at Nick & Janets. Yumbo.
(Now to try a gluten free version).

November 5
Oats update from Kim

..I managed to track down Malcolm Orr of Lightwood Farm regarding oats. We had a really nice chat. He explained he hasn't done oats for a number of years due to the drought, but has actually got some in this year. He said he will only harvest if there is enough rain, and that won't be before Christmas. Ah, well. I thought it would be worth telling you this so that no one else doubles up. On a good note though, he did give me the name of someone else he knows who grows oats in Rocklynn..

November 4
Sample menu – what Nick's household is thinking of eating. Found in 'Food Inventory Spreadsheet'

October 25
Meeting at Yarravlle Farmers Market: minutes

Who: Alicia, Emma, Ken, Phil, John, Nick, Janet, Rita, Phil, Shaun, Neesh. Thanks for coming and sharing your finds.

Finds at the market:
* Great grower stall from Romsey. Has about 3 acres. Range of veg. Non-certified, but organic practice. Possible to stock up at market on 22nd. - see Shaun for details
* Axedale olives

Discussion:
A. self-audit - looking at what we presently eat our menu - what we will eat in that week
B. alternatives - finding replacements (Investigations: Shaun – Soy; Ken – dairy; Nick – fish; Sarah – honey, spices, tea, coffee)
C. process -how do we document successes & shortfalls. Ideas included
* reflections on how people found it – record at last dinner
* recipe book – with all meals, ingredients sourced
* database with contact details

Developments & resources:
* 6th is Maribrynong Veg swap meet so potentially get vegies for week – See Neesh
* Janet talked to Mark at Pompello fruit shop in Seddon. They are willing to put up signs with kms for that week.
* Cultivating communities have a fruit tree map for the City of Yarra – see Alicia
* Hazelnuts and blueberries - see Alicia.
* Lessons in yogurt making and bread making - see Alicia.
* Solar dryer project - see Shaun


In season for our trial (according to www.organgesandlemons.com.au)- Fruit: lemons, grapefruit, rasberries, apples, strawbeerries, blueberries, oranges, plums; Veg: asapragus, brocilli, cabbage, mushrooms, onions, peas, parsnips, silverbeets, spinach, lettuce, potatoe, rubarb

List of priorities (what we see as essential to chase up on):
* green tea
* lentils & pulses, chickpeas
* cereals - John to chase up Powlett Hill to see if there are any places that value add to their flour products (ie. make bread, cereals)

Other suggestions:
* have trial for each season
* have preserving day, bread making day, yoghurt making day, soy milk making day
* shared meals - start & end, other?
* media - Age is not going to take up article now. However, independant journo Shaun interviewed Nick regarding article for local 'Star' newspaper. Suggestion that he come to bfore and sfater meal to get views of participating people. Who else from media to invite? Local council?

November 2
Cheese info from Kim

Below is an email reply I received from Corinne of Drysdale Cheeses on the Bellarine Peninsula.  Main point is that their cheeses can be found in only 1 place in Melbourne: Leo's Fine Foods, Princes Street, Kew. I'm hoping to get some solid info re Jindi cheeses in the next week. Also, Oliveessence in Seddon has olive oil from Axedale, Maldon and Kyneton.  All within our range. Cheers, Kim.

-------- Original Message --------
Hi Kim. Congratulations on your 100 mile diet attempt. It is so good  to see people thinking about what they put in their mouths and how  food production affects everything. We only have one retail outlet  that we supply in Melbourne, and that was because the shop manager  stalked me for so long that I finally gave up and started sending him  cheese! The shop is Leo's Fine Foods, in Princes St., KEW. There are  six shops on the Bellarine peninsula that stock our cheeses. Please  let me know if you need more details. Thank-you for your interest in  our cheeses, we try to farm and breed our animals with sound ethics  and permaculture principles. We are not organic, but do believe in a  holistic approach to agriculture. Thanks again,  Corinne Blacket <coriolynn@netspace.net.au>

October 30
Food miles info for the CERES market, from Emma. It changes weekly according to where they are getting their produce. http://www.ceres.org.au/farm/marketfoodmiles.php

October 24
Info from Sarah.

Spices
www.screamingseeds.com.au 5221 8522. I think they are a local coastal company that state they have local and global - seeds and spices.

Honey
Hillbilly Farms 9737 9539
Archibald Honey 9551 1860
G's Bees Honey 9356 0613
and www.purepeninsulahoney.com.au - have about 20 stockists all over melb- mostly IGA's.

October 17
For all you meat eaters, Kim passed on this great information.

Wangara Poultry and Game Pty Ltd
1/321 Arden St, Kensington 3031. Ph 9376 8188
A wholesale supplier for restaurants and the like (including the 100 mile Cafe),

Products include Free Range Chicken (whole and cuts) and Wild Rabbit from Bendigo Gourmet Poultry and Game. They also do other crazy gourmet things like duck, quail, squab pigeon, spatchcock, etc. They also have cornfed chicken, so be sure to ask for the free range.

Wangara sells for other poultry and game suppliers, and include all sorts of meats like emu, crocodile, camel, goat, snails, and wagyu beef - not in the 100 miles but some in Victoria.

October 15
Have some great info below from Emma Keogh.
Lighthouse Olive Oil and Drysdale goats cheese, both from Portarlington on the Bellarine peninsula. Yum!

As Emma suggested, as we find essentials from good sources, it is worth us talking about buying in bulk and sharing them out.

Also talk to Emma and Alicia about their 'best ever' homemade chocolate ice cream - obviously the chocolate isn't local but the rest is. Maybe for we could sample at our meetings pre or post trial. Or perhaps you may have suggestions for some other 'local' ice-cream flavourings.

Lighthouse Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Murradoc Olive Grove & Mill 600 Andersons Road ,Drysdale 3222 Phone 03 5253 2133
Lighthouse Extra Virgin Olive Oil is grown and processed on Murradoc Farm in Drysdale. 11,000 olive trees sit on 165 acres overlooking sweeping views of Queenscliff and Swan Bay where the cool temperature maritime climate gives olives a distinct character, aroma and flavour.
Yellow Label Extra Virgin Olive can be bought in 20 litre drums with a tap or 4 Litre tins. The cost of the 20 litre drum is $260.00 ($13.00 per litre) or $55.00 for 4 litres ($13.75 per litre). Website: www.lighthouseoliveoil.com.au

DRYSDALE CHEESES
is the first commercial goat cheese manufacturer on the Bellarine Peninsula .
Registered in December 2005, our cheese making concentrates on small quantities of fine, hand- crafted cheese made from the milk of our small herd of Saanen milking goats.
Phone 5251 1449 or email coriolynn@netspace.net.au

October 8
Vinegar
We had used some beetroot from our vegie box to make 'Borsch' last night and were wondering how we might replace vinegar.
Seems Hemphill Apple Juices is a family-owned business operating in Main Ridge (near Dromana) provide organic apple cider vinegar. ph.5989 6050

Salt
One of the most basic 'flavours' in my cooking - deemed somewhat essential. We'd talked generally about salt coming from Geelong.
Cheetham Salt, the nation's largest salt producer, has a processing plant at Corio. The 100 Mile Cafe have 'Geelong' salt on their menu.
However I found this: 'The evaporation of seawater at Corio, near Geelong, was once the largest source of salt in Victoria, but most production now comes from Lake Tyrrell, near Ouyen, and is supplemented by small intermittent producers in the Mildura, Horsham and Kerang areas.' I also found that salt comes from SA to be processed here. I will follow up with a phone call to Cheetham.
Alternatives just outside our zone were ' Murray River' Gourmet salt flakes, near Mildura, and ' Pyramid Salt' who are developing methods of land desalinisation through commercial solar salt production, and are based in Pyramid Hill on the Loddon Plains, which is about 200 kms from Melbourne. Like rubbing salt on a wound!. For future reference, see distributors of Pyramid salt at http://www.pyramidsalt.com.au/dist.html

Fernleigh Farms
Fernleigh Farms near Trentham have rare breed pigs, potatoes and and later on carrots! www.fernleighfarms.com

Also see:
Wendy's blog - Green Tucker http://greentucker.ata.org.au/
Food producers in the Ballarat region - thanks to Andrew Bray from BREAZE (Ballarat Renewable Energy And Zero Emissions) http://www.breaze.org.au/balfoodlist/

October 3
Thinking Food Miles, have had some great finds this week.

* Spelt and Rye flour Wheat from Powlett Hill Biodynamic Farm, 40 kilometres north of Ballarat, see www.theallorganicfarm.com.au
* Oats from Lightwood Farm in Bullarto, near Dalyesford
* Fish from Melbourne's bay (so I'm told by Footscray market monger) - Maceral, Bay Trout, Silver Bream, and Snapper. Be a-Bay-Trout-tasting tonight!

Best of all was that I came across this great resource - the 'Victorian organic food products directory 2007', published by the Victorian Government in association with the Organic Federation of Australia. It's organic produce from all over Victoria, but thought I'd utilise Google Maps to give an indication of our 160km boundary.
You can see all the listings as place markers and then go to each for details. But I thought I'd try to make it a little more user-friendly by taging the listees. You can narrow what is displayed by choosing a broad product category (ie: 1. Grains, Pulses, Breads; 2. Meat & Dairy; 3. Fruit & Vegetables; or 4. Other ..includes honey, coffee, tea, olives, seeds, processed food & products). Or you can choose the type of listee (ie: Grower, Processor, or Wholesaler).
I have also posted a spreadsheet of the contents so you can search for particular foods.
See the link at our page www.ethical.org.au/100miletrial

Septemebr 11 : Initial meeting

Our group
Attended: Jonathan Pipke, Sean Walsh, Neesh Wray, Shannon Newley, Kim Conrnford, Michael Green, Carla Dobell, Ken Johnson, Janet Ray, Nick Ray, Nancy & Max Leslie, Alisia Hooper, Emma Keogh. Also those interested in being a part of trial: Phil Hudson, Emma Keldan, Edie Daniels.

The night
·We had a great meal with assorted somewhat local bits to start off our discussion. Included Janet's pumpkin soup from Max's homegrown pumpkin.
-· Brief run around group – name, where from, one food you love with BIG food miles, one you love with SMALL
- Context – short news report on release of 100 Mile Diet book and input on the 'why's'
· Discussion of possible process (see below) and then brainstorm in small groups on what we buy, what we know about it, and how it rates.
·- Then returned to large group and outlined what we could eat in various food groups (see spreadsheet).
-· Discussion on Considerations and what are 'our rules'
-· Finally tied down some essentials – date & future meetings

Actions – what we'll do
Some people have taken on certain areas to further investigate.
Presently these are Carla – grains; Shaun – Soy; Ken – dairy; Nick – fish; Sarah – honey, spices, tea, coffee.
Information can be put into the 'Food Inventory' spreadsheet, with additions highlighted, and then emailed back to me for collation. I will post updated versions at www.ethical.org.au/100miletrial
I encourage everyone to add their old and new discoveries, and take on areas that may interest you.
Start collating possible menus beforehand. Be good to share these to give others ideas.
Date of trial: Sunday 30th November – Saturday 6th December (First week of December 2008)
Common meal with group together at start and end
In lead in week beforehand, anything bought new meets rules
Meetings:
- Next meeting #1 – Saturday 25th October at Yarraville Farmers Market, Yarraville Gardens, 12 noon, lunch together
- Next meeting #2 – Saturday 22nd November (week before trial) at Shaun & Neesh's place, 7 Burns Street, Yarraville

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