The alchemy of ferments

Hi everyone,

Just a reminder that Culture Club is on this Saturday at the usual time of 9.30am to 12.30pm at the Senior Citizen's Hall behind the Daylesford Town Hall. As usual, this is a free event.

Our very special guest this month is Nicole Azzopardi, author of the Alchemy Cookbook.

Most recipes in The Alchemy Cookbook are GAPS diet friendly. For those not familiar with it, GAPS  stands for Gut And Psychology Syndrome. The GAPS diet focuses on removing foods that are difficult to digest and damaging to gut flora and replacing them with nutrient-dense food.

Here is a little of Nicole's story:

“Our little girl Stevie Rose was diagnosed anaphylactic to egg, nut and sesame at 11 months old. As time went on we discovered that the hives she kept presenting with were also intolerances to a whole range of foods. Stevie began to display what I can only describe as autistic-like tendencies – banging her head on the ground, terrified of noises, melt downs all day and night - but at the same time she would have these hives everywhere. I knew that it had to be food related for her.”

Stevie Rose began the GAPS Diet without egg, nuts or sesame at age two. Her family were astonished to see Stevie improve steadily as time went on.

“I can’t explain this phenomenon and indeed I think there are a lot of scientists doing their best to get to the bottom of this immune system related disorder,” Nicole says.

“However, as a journalist, research came naturally to me and we tried to educate ourselves as much as possible. I watched numerous lectures and read peer reviewed paper after peer reviewed paper on how our gut microbiome could possibly influence a number of functions within the body. I also learned that 80 per cent of the immune system was found in the gut wall. So I asked myself, if the gut wall was under less stress, could that benefit then flow on to the immune system?”

Fast forward two years and Stevie Rose is a happy, healthy 4.5-year-old. She displays no autistic tendencies, no longer requires epipens, has no known food intolerances and on last check with her paediatric allergist in 2014, had only a 2mm peanut allergy.

“What happened to Stevie was frightening but her gift to us was that we discovered cooking from scratch, the joy of getting into our garden, the creativity of making our own veggie ferment combos and the soothing qualities of a good home made chicken stock,” Nicole says.

“We went back to the age-old tradition of lacto-fermenting our vegetables, we enjoyed the Sunday roast and meat and three veg. Desserts were simplified, fruit-based and delicious.

“I was amazed to see our daughter begin to thrive by eating this way and I could not in good conscious not begin to chronicle the experience for anyone who might need to see it in pictures. I hope this book offers hope and courage and inspires all people to get back into their kitchens and really enjoy making beautiful, home cooked food for their families.”

Nicole will be talking about her experience on Saturday at Culture Club and will also be showing us how to make some of the ferments from her book. She will also have some books for sale.

See you then!

Repair, don't despair!!

Hi everybody, there are two meetings scheduled for Thursday August 16 (sorry for the late notice!) to get the ball rolling on setting up a Daylesford Repair Café. How exciting!

The meeting times are:

• 1.00pm - 2.30pm at the Daylesford Neighbourhood Centre and 
• 6.30pm - 7.30pm at the Senior Citizens Room

We all have things that need repairing. How wonderful it will be to have an active space to share skills and tools and materials.

Eating the Earth: why the food movement is unstoppable

Industrial food production and farming are key drivers of environmental destruction, from rainforests to reefs, and water supplies to climate change. Charles Massy, Tammi Jonas and Dr Jonathan Latham discuss how regenerative agriculture can turn Australia's economies around and revitalise rural communities. Refreshments included in the ticket price.

 

SPEAKERS

Tammi Jonas is resident meatsmith at Jonai Farms, where she and her family of ethicurean farmers raise pastured rare-breed pigs and cattle. Jonai Farms is engaged in the solidarity economy of community supported agriculture-CSA, feeding 80 member households each month. Tammi is president of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance, where she advocates for ethical and ecological farming, and everybody's right to determine food systems. She is also chair of the AFSA Legal Defence Fund, which supports farmers dealing with inappropriate regulation and planning. Tammi has been writing about food culture since 2006 at her blog, Tammi Jonas: Food Ethics, and has been widely published in both academic and general texts.

Charles Massy is an author and farmer with a focus on transformative and regenerative agriculture. His latest book, Call of the Reed Warbler, challenges the way we farm and grow food, and puts a lens on the vital connection between soil and our health. Using his personal experience as a touchstone ~ from an unknowing, chemical-driven farmer with dead soils, to a radical ecologist carefully reviving a 2000 hectare property back to biological health ~ Dr Massy tells the real story behind industrial agriculture and the profit-obsessed global corporations driving it. And in a brilliant series of narratives he shows how innovative farmers are finding new and profitable ways, and returning the earth to health.
 
Dr Jonathan Latham is an international food advocate and crop scientist based in New York. He is executive director of the Bioscience Resource Project, and editor of Independent Science News. The Project’s peer reviewed biosafety papers provide critical analysis of new technologies in the public interest. He is also the director of the Poison Papers, which reveals extraordinary collusion between governments and polluters. Dr Latham is author of scientific papers in diverse fields including virology, ecology, genetics and molecular biology. He is a biologist and biopolitical theorist, and talks frequently at scientific and regulatory conferences. He has written for Truthout, Salon, MIT Technology Review, Resilience and the Guardian.

Tickets here.

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In case you missed the memo, there will be no Culture Club this month (tomorrow), but please join us in September where special guest Nicole Azzopardi will be joining us to discuss her new book, The Alchemy Cookbook.