gastronomy

Bendigo is going to Hollywood!

by Michelle Symes • February 2, 2024

Some of our region’s best produce will have a starring role in this year’s G’Day USA Gala event, showcasing Bendigo and central Victoria as Australia’s first UNESCO Creative City and Region of Gastronomy.  The G’Day USA Gala includes a dinner for 460 guests, who will all receive a Bendigo Gastronomy VIP artisan gift bag featuring […]


A School Putting Gastronomy Front and Centre

by Michelle Symes • March 7, 2023

As you walk through the doors of Kaliana, you are met with a quiet hive of activity. In particular, the canteen staff are hard at work in readiness for lunch service. The difference in this canteen is that it’s not volunteer parents preparing the food, instead, it’s the kids doing all the work. As is […]


How do we Eat Djaara Country Healthy?

by Our Team • August 30, 2022

Authors: Will Tait and Jodi Newcombe So here we are, bringing this five-part blog series to a close. In our opening blog we described how our collective – the Carbon Arts team in collaboration with Dja Dja Wurrung woman Bec Phillips – is motivated by the question: “How do we eat Djaara Country healthy?” We […]


Land of Milk and Honey

by Our Team • August 24, 2022

Authors: Will Tait and Jodi Newcombe We are gathered at Bar Midland in Castlemaine with a collection of primary producers to discuss the concept of ‘Eating Djaara Country Healthy’, while proprietor and project collaborator Alex Perry delights us with appropriately-themed delicacies. After the first round of introductions Richard Collins explains the troubling times he’s been […]


Planting Seeds for New Beginnings

by Michelle Symes • August 16, 2022

It’s 9.00am, I walk through the doors and am welcomed by a security guard. This is the first time I have started my workday with a full body Xray, a duress alarm on my belt and a meander around a series of kitchen gardens with a slight feeling of apprehension. On this day however, the […]


Pest Control on a Plate

by Our Team • August 9, 2022

Authors: Will Tait and Jodi Newcombe In early 2021 we gathered to begin developing what would become Djakitj Larr – the afternoon of storytelling and creative conversation that gathered stakeholders of the City of Bendigo’s UN Creative City of Gastronomy designation. Dja Dja Wurrung woman Bec Phillips had just joined the team, and one of […]


Breaking Bread

by Our Team • July 26, 2022

Authors: Will Tait and Jodi Newcombe There’s an area of grassland on Parkside Run Farm that’s never been treated with chemicals. Carly Noble cuts and bales what grows there, and feeds it to her animals. She notices that they don’t sniff at it suspiciously like they do with a bale that’s been grown in soil […]


What’s on the menu in 2072?

by Our Team • July 11, 2022

Authors: Will Tait and Jodi Newcombe On 24th May 2021, the 100 attendees of Djakitj Larr were invited to place a stone in their hand, representing Djaara Country, and make a personal commitment to do something of benefit to the living land that sustains us all. Our collective – the Carbon Arts team in collaboration […]


Symposium of Gastronomy – Day 3, Annie Smithers, First Nations Agriculture and all the Cheese

by Michelle Symes • May 31, 2022

Annie Smithers eased us into day three with visions of her farm Babbington Park on a cold crispy autumn morning “It’s hard to drag me out of the garden and into the kitchen on days like that”.  Annie reflected on her experience growing food on her small acreage in Lyonville. She discussed what it was […]


24th Symposium of Gastronomy

by Michelle Symes • May 30, 2022

For many, the concept of gastronomy is a new one. The Oxford Dictionary defines gastronomy as ‘The practice or art of choosing, cooking, and eating good food’. For one cohort of Australians, this term has been in their vernacular for more than 20 years. In recognition of Bendigo’s UNESCO City of Gastronomy designation, the 24th […]