A future food plant-based grazing table micro event was hosted by Anne Elliott, Food Innovation Blue Mountains in Katoomba on December 2.
The event was held at Ms Elliot's home Cloudlands. The group Food Innovations Blue Mountains advocates for alternative proteins.
"Food fusion" as Ms Elliot describes it is 21st century food consisting of from scratch, local produce (in this case Urbavore Urban Farm, Springwood), that is seasonal and hand-made.
The event highlighted outstanding Australian food companies such as Syndian Natural Food Products, Lamyong Vegetarian Food with its focus on multicultural alternative proteins, Gingerbread Folk, a conscious business based in the Lower Mountains offering vegan gingerbread with compostable packaging. Australian native foods such as old man saltbush and Davidson Plum were also included.
The full spectrum of alternative proteins were also savoured, from the most recent Australian produced V2 Burger (tasting like beef and developed in partnership with the CSIRO and industry), as well as plant-based alternatives to chicken, lobster, fish and prawns and artisanal and locally-made plant-based cheeses.
Sweet delights included aquafaba (chick pea juice) gelato and icecream, drizzled with regional liqueurs, Florentines with a twist of sweet white lupin flakes. Ms Elliot says high-protein lupins are commonly fed to livestock, rather than available for human consumption.
This micro-event was a partnership between Food Innovation Blue Mountains and Sorelle Eats, a small Blue Mountains catering business.
Guests at the event represented a cross-section of the Mountains community, with direct outcomes being the creation of a future foodies sub-group in the Blue Mountains Sustainability Network, coordinated by Noni McDevitt and artisanal plant-based cheesemaking workshops at a prominent food business. A short film on future food will also be produced soon.
Ms Elliot says with the "global population doubling in the last 50 years but meat consumption trebling, in a world where 800 million people on a daily basis are food and water insecure, we know as a global community meat consumption must be reduced at the very least to ensure the survival of life on earth".
"Plant-based food literally re-wilds the earth. The looming protein shortage must be addressed with nimble innovations.
"New-era alternative proteins provide a powerful solution and opportunity for those who love the taste of meat, but are aware of the environmental ramifications and also care about animals. In the 21st century, we are literally able to remake meat without the animals."
Ms Elliot says those interested in alternatives in their business can go to www.foodinnovationbluemountains.com for ideas. This is a free service
