Shaping Australia’s food identity

A national team of researchers plan to change the way Australians – and the world – thinks about Australia’s cuisine and food products.

Led by The University of Queensland’s Associate Professor Yasmina Sultanbawa, the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods, aims to convert traditional knowledge into branded products, and to identify scientific basis for a uniquely Australian food provenance.

“We are working with Indigenous communities across Australia, food industry entrepreneurs and a research team spanning law, engineering, food science and the social sciences, to create a new agri-food sector based on uniquely Australian foods,” Dr Sultanbawa said.

“It’s about celebrating Australia’s own unique food heritage and creating a truly Australian food culture.”

Project participant, Mr Bruno Dann, Traditional Owner, Custodian of Winamwarl and Chairperson of Manowan Aboriginal Corporation, said indigenous Australians had been using these foods for medicine and food for thousands of years.

“There’s so much bush tucker out there; you can either hold it to yourself or give it and share it,” Mr Dann said.

Australian Research Council (ARC) Chief Executive Officer, Professor Sue Thomas, announced $3.58 million in funding for the Training Centre through the Australian Research Council’s Industrial Transformation Research Program.

Professor Thomas said there was a hunger both in Australia and overseas for exotic, healthy food experiences.

“This training centre represents the largest research effort ever undertaken on behalf of the Australian native foods sector,” Professor Thomas said.

“It will train a cohort of future industry leaders to help develop sustainable and culturally appropriate models for the harvest of native bush food product, encompassing issues such as community benefit sharing, intellectual property protection and developing a uniquely Australian brand.”

Dr Sultanbawa pioneered the use of Kakadu plum powder as a powerful, natural antimicrobial to extend the shelf life of prawns and ready-made frozen foods.

“We are now looking at the properties of a range of native fruits, seeds and nuts to find the next Kakadu plum or lemon myrtle, but we are also looking at the unique signatures of foods grown in Australia.”

Dr Sultanbawa said the food industry could take inspiration from Australia’s wine industry in identifying a uniquely Australian flavour as a way of branding its product in global markets.

“This project does not focus on wine, but like the wine industry, we are also looking at distinctively Australian version of foods that may not be unique or indigenous to Australia but have a distinct flavour or provenance,” Dr Sultanbawa said.

“We want to identify any scientific evidence that may connect any unique food properties with how and where foods are grown.”

Dr Sultanbawa said it was time for Australians to move beyond the cliché national cuisine of meat pies, lamingtons and Vegemite.

“While modern Australian cuisine is culturally very diverse, there is a great interest among Australians to celebrate their own unique food heritage, and that includes understanding the health benefits of Indigenous bush foods and telling the stories of where our food comes from,” she said.

More information: Uniquely Australian Foods website | photos | video
Media: Dr Yasmina Sultanbawa, y.sultanbawa@uq.edu.au, +61 7 344 32471; Professor Mike Gidley, m.gidley@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3365 2145; Margaret Puls, m.puls@uq.edu.au, +61 419 578 356.