Foodtopia Dreaming Episode 7 Feeding Australia
Now MasterChef is different. I don't get upset with the way people are treated or the situations the judges put people in. People put the pressure on themselves. They show their own knowledge limitations and their emotions are a response to their frustrations and their reality. Not the judges.
I've never watched survivor. That would be worse for me I think.
Imagine if you combined the two, then brought it into suburbia. A sharehouse in suburbia. Think RetroSuburbia on steroids.
But the goal was not to get evicted or be the last person standing. The goal is to see how long you could stay together as a sharehouse. Spend the least money, work the least, have a positive impact on the environment and your community, have the most fun and still live your life. Now there's a challenge made for TV.
Changing your outlook and where you place rewards could change lives. People have been prepping, homesteading and practicing permaculture all are likely to have the skills to get a gig on the greatest sustainability challenge made for TV. What to call it? MasterPermie or MasteringLife. FeedAustralia? It’s what I think MasterChef was trying to do but got distracted.
Manu Re and I talk through FeedingAustralia the next time we shovel cow poo and straw at his secret location - yes he trusts me now. We get into a debate as to who would host it. We talk about Kat Lavers, of Carol Sanford, of Dan Palmer. Maybe Charlie McGee to provide backing music. Me, I battle for David Holmgren, Manu, he wants Costa. Maybe they could be guest judges.
We are deep in discussions and negotiations and shovelling poo. This spinoff from MasterChef. Taking the contestants to various permaculture farms. Sustainable homes in cities, share houses smashing sustainability. Challenging contestants to cook with the resources on the farm or the share house for the week. Master classes in how to store food when there is excess, how to forage when there is not. Who can they trade with locally. Making their own tools and equipment.
Manu wants to do a master class in compost. He gets excited. Passionate in fact. He says he’ll run leaf mould and mulch making classes, where to source green nitrogen around town and browns we can use that we just haven’t thought about. Run a ShareWaste program so that nothing leaves the property. Nothing? I have an inkling where he is going but I file that thought.
We agree that Sandor Katz should do a fermenting demo. But who is the preserving queen? We’ll find someone. Someone who can Vacola, and dehydrate. Pickle and preserve. Cure and salumi. We put the word out to find the preserving champion in Fowlers Vacola user groups.
Manu reckons learning to seed save, propagate and nurture nature deserves a class of its own. Me, I push for mastering the art of cooking on a rocket stove, in a wood oven and creating a rocket oven. Learning to fire a communal bread oven and bake for the day, for the community.
We both agree that being balanced, working with others, preparing food for future seasons are important skills. As is providing entertainment and bringing people together. That doing the work, learning the rhythms of life on a farm or in a house, caring for others, only taking your fair share and taking care of your community and the earth are vital. All these are traits that will see you and your housemates get a gig for life in a sharehouse.
Going plastic free through thoughtful consumption has to be one of the challenges that breaks people, and houses. Having to go without because of the packaging something comes in is dedication to the environment. Finding alternatives or making your own shows thoughtfulness and skill, that the house understand and value their resources.
A masterclass in raising goats - the permies best friend next to chooks. A source of protein in the milk, preserving it in cheeses and yogurt. And of course how to slaughter your own meat. Sharing the role of milking. Learning to trust animals, see their contribution to the land. Their ability to graze on anything makes them the perfect neighbourhood animal - the Street Machine. No green bins necessary, just “Can we borrow the goat mulcher?”
These master classes with the best in permaculture, with the best growers, the best neighbourhood organisations drives FeedAustralia to become the highest rated TV program. The influencers are back, they are green and thoughtful, repurposing houses and backyards naturestrips and vacant land. Turning weekend sport into a neighbourhood perma blitz.
Manu and I laugh at our creation as we compost the last of the cow poo, wetting it down knowing things will heat up in the heap and in the houses of FeedingAustralia.
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