Best Queensland organic gourmet finds

We had a sensational time at the Biome stall as part of Regional Flavours at South Bank, Brisbane this past weekend.   What a lively and positive gathering of Queensland food and wine producers and their devotees.  Cooking demonstrations with a garden to table theme were very popular, while the creative installations of productive gardens added to the inspiring atmosphere, like these herb wheelbarrow plantings.

It was exciting to see such crowds of people keen to connect with the growers and producers of food.  This year's theme was to showcase the many food traditions present in Queensland – from migrant recipes using local ingredients to native indigenous foods gone gourmet.

For those who couldn't make it, we've listed our pick the best organic and boutique producers below.

Take the green shopping pledge and we'll reward you with 25% off

Biome was there to help spread the message about reducing your impact on the planet when you shop - from taking reusable Keep Cup coffee cups and water bottles, to replacing plastic bags with reusable fruit and vegie bags and composting your scaps at home.  Our green shopping pledge has some easy actions to help.  Pledge to do them and we'll reward you in our stores ...  Download the pledge here before 30 September 2012 

OUR FAVOURITE FINDS
 

Hinterland Feijoas, who grow certified organic feijoas on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, Queensland.  Owners Peter Heineger and Sally Hookey use organic biological farming methods and no chemical inputs. Growing feijoas commercially in Australia is a relatively new industry so they had to start from scratch in many areas.  To value add to their crop, they work with local chefs to manufacture a variety jams, ice cream and amazing Feijoa Balsamic Glaze.   

Look out for Kat's Waffle House who attend markets on the Sunshine Coast and special events with their delicious gluten-free waffles made with organic gluten-free flour, organic eggs, no preservatives, etc, etc.  Biome's stall was right near Kat's so we had to smell the beautiful aroma of fresh baked waffles all weekend!  Thankfully, we got to satisfy our cravings a few times also.

Extra special

OzHarvest Brisbane  collecting excess food to feed those in need  http://brisbane.ozharvest.org 

Organic
Barambah Organics  dairy
Eden Hope Organic Dairy Farms dairy - Gympie
Hampton Blue  organic berries and jams - Hampton www.hamptonblue.com.au
Kin Kin Tea  herbal teas and Organic Fruit - Kin Kin  kinkintea.com.au

Hinterland Feijoas  organic feijoa www.hinterlandfeijoas.com.au
 

Handcrafted, traditional, sustainable production

Chalala Micro-Bakery  muesli, gluten-free biscuits - Mossvale www.chalala.com.au
Towri Sheep Cheeses sheep cheeses - Allenview www.towrisheepcheeses.com.au
Coolana Olives  olives - Lowood  www.coolanaolives.com.au  
Kingaroy Cheese artisan cheeses - Brighton www.kingaroycheese.com.au
Brisbane Ginger Beer  ginger beer - Brisbane
Fungi Mushroom Growing Kits  Geebung www.fungi.net.au  
Broken Nose Vanilla  Babinda www.brokennosevanilla.com.au

Gluten free
 Jo Jo’s Gluten Free Brisbane www.jojosglutenfree.com.au
Gluten Free Grain Free Company  www.glutenfreegrainfree.com.au
Zehnder Gluten Free  Maleny www.zehnder.com.au
Kat’s Wafflehouse   Homemade gluten free waffles - Mooloolaba

Bush foods
Coolamon Foods Bush Food spices, sauces, relishes by Dale Chapman, an accomplished Indigenous
Australian Bush Tucker Chef. www.coolamonfoodcreations.com.au
Galeru Native Rainforest Fruit Cakes, Yoghurt, Juices www.galeru.com.au
Rainforest Bounty chutneys and sauces rainforestbounty.com.au

For more local food inspiration, see our earlier post "hitch up to the local food wagon".

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Put a cork in it

When 80% of the 20 billion bottles of wine produced in the world each year use natural corks, why do nearly all wine bottles in Australian bottle shops seem to have screw caps?

Is it a reflection of Australian culture?  After all, we drink a lot of beer with screw tops, perhaps we expect to be able to casually screw the top off a beverage.

Australia and New Zealand are among the leaders in this technological "development"--and it's uptake--along with other cork alternative, the Diam petrochemical plastic cork.  Commercial reasons must be driving the change because it's cheaper and reduces spoilage.  But, we seem to be accepting the move away from hundreds of years of tradition without much fuss.  Does some small percentage of wine oxidation really matter when we are once again replacing a truly sustainable solution with an non-renewable, petrochemical answer?

James Halliday posted his views of this debate and attracted some passionate replies! Apparently, the makers of screw caps contend that an aluminium cap generates less carbon in its manufacture and transport - compared with cork that has to travel all the way from Spain!

As someone comments on the Halliday post, "How can you suggest that screwcap production has minimal carbon footprint consequences? Have you considered the environmental impact associated with mining and smelting aluminium and the total amount of energy used in the process of manufacturing screwcaps? Transport is only one component when determining the environmental performance of a product over its life cycle."

And another reminds us that the bark of a cork tree regenerates and is harvested between 10 and 14 times during its 200 year life, in the process capturing 7 or 8 times more CO2 than had the cork bark never been harvested.

Australian environmental commentator Tanya Ha explains in her book Greeniology, the disappearance of cork is an environmental tragedy. "Cork is a wonderful, sustainable resource. The cork oak survives without chemicals, fertilisers or irrigation. Cork trees aren't cut down, only their outer bark is harvested every nine years....Over half the world's cork comes from cork-oak forests in Spain and Portugal. These forests are home to the endangered Bonelli's eagle and the Iberian lynx. As the world buys more wine with plastic stoppers or screw tops, these forests are losing their markets and the farmers are having to clear the land in favour of more profitable crops."

Cork is also biodegradable and readily recyclable so it does not need to end up in landfill. We have a well established recycling stream for cork in Australia.  According to the Planet Ark cork fact sheet: 

Girl Guides Australia has been a world pioneer in cork recycling, beginning its program in 1990. Since then, this program alone collected over 160 million corks. Currently, other community organisations including Motor Neuron Disease, Friends of the Zoos and Green Collect also collect
corks for recycling.

Both Biome eco friendly stores take pleasure in accepting your corks for recycling and handing them onto the Girl Guides.

Interestingly, Australia may lead the way with screw caps, but Planet Ark says, we also have the world’s largest wine cork recycling plant run by Logic Australia. The end result are new products like flooring, memo boards, placemats, coasters, floor tiles, gaskets, horse-float mats, boat decking and inners for hockey and cricket balls.

The story of cork is a common modern eco-dilemma, but we think that it is worth standing up for nature's solution.  It may seem like you're fighting against a tsunami of change, but every purchasing decision you make sends a message.

What Australian wine is bottled using a cork?

Searching online bottle shops, no one seemed to mention whether each wine has a cork or not.  The only winery that came up in searches was Harris Organic Wines, WA, who publish a statement about their commitment to cork.  Way to go!

We asked this question of our Facebook fans last year and they told us:
Brown brothers Riesling, Golden Grape Estate in the Hunter Valley,‎"Stones Gold" sparkling ginger wine, Brown Brothers Zibibbo Rosa, Bleasdale Vineyards eg. for "Frank Potts" Cabernet blend.

Perhaps you can add to our list by posting the names here or on our Facebook? 


Homewares made from cork

Cork wine bottle stopper

You can support cork through other products of course.  We have just introduced to Biome some cork homewares made in Spain from pruned branches and bark of oak trees grown on the Iberian Peninsula - a cork wine bottle stopper, cork trivet and cork soap dish.

Why not upcycle your corks into a real cork memo board?

Find inspiration on the behomemade.com blog. They made the gorgeous memo board pictured here from an old door frame and corks.

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Shout Dad an Aussie organic beer

While at the Organic Expo in Sydney recently we were very happy to taste some of Australia's fine organic wines and even a beer!

We were particularly excited about the Burragumbilli Certified Organic Lager and thought it would be a great treat for Dad on Father's Day…without the hangover!

A boutique beer brewed in New South Wales, Burragumbilli is growing in popularity and reputation as a quality, clean tasting “green” choice for the thinking drinker. It has no added sugar, no preservatives and no harmful chemical residues.

The beer follows an organic processing chain from farm to malt house to brewery and bottling to achieve the high status Australian Certified Organic (ACO) certification.

Organic malts and hops have no chemical residues to interfere with fermentation producing a clean, unadulterated beer. Organic lager has exceptional clarity without the use of harmful chemical fining agents, and it has a clean, flavourful taste.



Would you like a cocktail with that beer?
If you are drinking a beer that is not certified organic you are likely to be imbibing a chemical cocktail at the same time.  It can include the residues from farming processes, storage and preservative requirements, several of which are carcinogenic, as well as residues of industrial cleaners and chemical additives to the brew such as flavours, colours, and preservatives.

The benefit of organic beverages is not only are they chemical free but they are also either preservative free or produced with low preservatives, which has a proven tendency to be gentler on your system with less headaches the next day.

Burragumbilli barley and hops are grown without industrial fertilizers, pesticides, weedicides or fungicides and therefore are without the common chemical residues of conventionally grown crops. Hops in particular are very susceptible to fungal diseases and conventionally grown crops generally require fungicidal applications. Organic hops must be grown with wider spaced plants and rigorous pruning to improve sunlight penetration and airflow to restrict fungal infections.

Where to buy a Burra 

Check the list of retail outlets for Burragumbilli organic beer here. If your local bottle shop doesn’t already, why not ask them to start stocking Burragumbilli. Plus, it now has the distinction of being the first organic beer offered on Virgin Australia international and some domestic flights.

Organic Wines

The 2009 Temple Bruer Thistle Hill Riesling was awarded the Best Wine of Show & Best White at the Australia / New Zealand Organic Wine Show, whilst the 2007 Temple Bruer Shiraz Malbec Preservative Free took the Best Red & Best Preservative Free trophy.

Temple Bruer is regarded as one of the pioneers in organic viticulture and oenological practices in Australia. David and Barbara Bruer established a small vineyard in the early 1970's on a property situated on the main road between the towns of Strathalbyn and Milang, in the grape growing district of Langhorne Creek in South Australia. David was in charge of Roseworthy College's Oenology Department before becoming a full-time vigneron, while Barbara also taught chemistry at Roseworthy College and Flinders University for ten years.

Today Temple Bruer is Australia's largest certified organic label and its reputation for quality wine is firmly established.

www.organicwine.com.au is an online wine retailer specialising in organic wine, biodynamic wine and preservative free wine.  Organic, biodynamic, and minimal interference practices when employed competently lead to a superior and unique quality product. The individual “personality” of each wine can be fully expressed for us all to savour.

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