I been thinking about the structure of the show, particularly in light of some comments that have been made about the contestants being in “lock down”.

Contestant Adam left the show voluntarily. In speaking to the media he commented that isolation from his girlfriend had basically brought about the end of the relationship, and that he felt like his confidence was eroded by the actions of the shows producers.

The contestants who are left on the show have been living in the Sydney house since early January, with one 10min phone call home a week, apart from a few production breaks.

Why lock them in?

Why can’t they be in contact with others? The big brother aspects are the least appealing parts of this program. It’s not necessary on UK Masterchef, not was it necessary for Junior Masterchef. We still watched if. If someone can think of any other reason for contestants to be sequestered, except to assist the producers to emotionally manipulate them then I’d be interested to hear it.

Why recognise that Kate shouldn’t undergo the rigours of complete separation from her loved ones (Kate is allowed extra time with her young family), but not apply the same rules to other contestants? Why is being a “young mother” grounds for special treatment?

If you need to bend “the rules” to give yourselves less chance of bad PR then the rules are bad – change them for everyone, not just Kate.

When people are eliminated they go home to a party, they go do their shopping, they go back to work … If you’re really serious about keeping results a secret you’d handle it like Amazing Race does, by keeping all the contestants sequestered for the entire production time. All go home together – they know who’s won, but obviously they keep to their confidentiality contracts and the show continues to rate very highly and win Emmys.

Personally – I think the producers learned absolutely nothing from the junior Masterchef experience, and they certainly haven’t lived up to the much hyped “this year – it’s all about the food”. Because plainly, it isn’t.

Lock em in, break down their protection mechanisms, make ‘em cry, make ‘em cry, make ‘em cry!

I really think that playing with people’s mental health like this is cruel, and unnecessary.

You haven’t got the top 24 amateur chefs in Australia (that haven’t already been on Masterchef) – you’ve got the folks who can give up their jobs for 6 months, are so desperate to change their lives they’ll put up with these conditions, and can cook a bit as well.

There have also been comments about how this year’s crop if contestants aren’t as good at cooking as last years.

I’m not sure how you can compare them as the producers seem to think that every challenge has to be harder, trickier or more unnerving than last year. Switching baskets, stupid Chinese whisper challenge elements that are nothing about food, reduced time limits … It’s quite plainly an approach that is unsustainable.

Next year … Cook your favourite dish that reminds you of a dead relative, with this aardvark fillet in 10 seconds! WAIT! You have to semaphore instructions from the balcony to your rival to cook it for you! GO!

These contestants didn’t do last year’s challenges, they don’t have to be harder or different.

Plenty has already been said about the uneven challenges for immunity.

Oh – and if you want to belong to the “go and do an apprentice you silly things” group…have you seen what apprentices earn?

According to Apprentice Power

• First Year Apprentice Chef: $6.51 per hour
• Second Year Apprentice Chef: $7.64 per hour
• Third Year Apprentice Chef: $9.49 per hour
• Fourth Year Apprentice Chef: $11.31 per hour

’nuff said!

Are you tempted to sign up to the Masterchef bandwagon?

So, according to the Herald Sun they’ve expelled Mat from Masterchef after he was found to have a smart phone, contrary to the rules. And they’ve had to “bring back” an already eliminated contestant to fill out the numbers.

Really?

Ok – so kick Mat off if you need to, but do they need to bring back an already eliminated contestent? They have had an elimination challenge that ended with no one being eliminated before, they could have a challenge just to stretch the contestants skills (aka UK Masterchef) – they didn’t *need* to being back anyone.

But it seems that they want to.

Any bets that it will be Jay?

And if it is – that would be a great conundrum as Jay appears to has accessed Facebook (which may also be in breach of the rules) prior to their airing the show where he was eliminated.

On 3rd June this conversation appeared between what appears to be Jay’s facebook profile and a friend of mine. Jay was eliminated on the show that aired on 6th June.

And on the 6th of June, this appeared on what appears to be Hayden’s facbook page (it has been deleted subsequently):-

So what’s the real story? Any other mad theories out there? Is Hayden out of the competition?

UPDATE:

Reality Ravings has posted about the incident here.

And The Age has followed up on the original article here.

ABC has written about the Herald Sun story here.

Shopping at my local farmers’ market is a joy – such a joy that sometimes I end up with waaaaayyy too much of a good thing.  I decided last year that the next step in my pursuing a more ethical lifestyle was to stop wasting food: to eat it all.

Quite a challenge in a mostly one-person household. I often start work early and can’t be bothered cooking when I come home from work, and rarely eat out at lunch time.  So If i don’t take a yummy lunch to work, even it it becomes dinner sometimes, I will often not eat at all during the day, and that makes me quite grumpy!

What was I saying?  Oh yeh.  Using it All.  So I have a freezer full of leftovers and freezable things which I have made up from things I need to eat.  I did a freezer audit today – I reckon I’ve got about 3 weeks of food in there.  I shall have to amend that (not the first time).

But the most useful for me has been recipes that are forgiving. Recipes that not only allow you to tinker, but encourage you to.  Frittata is my number one standby. Useful if you grow vegies, are given vegies, or shop with the seasons.  Some eggs, some herbs, some vegies and some cheese.  It freezes well and tastes delicious at work during the week.  It’s also endlessly variable: from Asparagus and goats cheese to Pumpkin and sunflower seeds.  You can also pop it into a pastry shell and call it quiche (for something a little bit fancy).

So, I’ve been discovering the flexibility within mexican flavours lately.  Apart from a few dishes I’m been underwhelmed with Melbourne’s “darling” Mamasita.  But their grilled corn lead me down the path of making my own chipotle mayonnaise (delicious and quite addictive).

Egged on by Neil to play around with Mexican flavours, and inspired by his post about Maque Choux a New Orleans dish “braised corn” I defrosted some corn, some lovely Fernleigh Famrs Chorizo, diced up an onion, some spring onions, some garlic and the last of the green zebra tomatoes.

I served this with some left over avocado that I had mashed mixed with lime juice and was having on toast (with chipotle mayo!) for breakfast the last few days; some chipotle mayo and some organic corn chips that I bought from the organic market this morning.   I’ll take the leftovers for work tomorrow with some tomatillo salsa verde as well.

My philosophy of using all the food I buy has led me to seeking out some better ways to serve my old favourites.  There is nothing better than freshly picked corn on the cob. They say that corn is best eaten a few hours after picking, so if I buy it at the market, I’d better eat it – or process it somehow (into corn cakes or just frozen corn nibs) the day I buy it. The corn has started arriving at the Farmers’ Markets – and if you’ve never grown corn yourself, you must buy some from a farmer and cook it as soon as you can.

Don’t get me wrong, plain old corn on the cob is delicious with just a crack of black pepper and a knob of butter, but I wanted something a little bit more special than that.

A few weeks ago I smoked some butter as an experiement, this was sitting in my fridge awaiting inspiration.  Inspiration came in the form of Mamasita’s Elotes Callejeros and Thomasina Miers, a well known chef  and former Masterchef UK winner, who loves all things Mexican

Grilled Corn Mamasita Style (Elotes Callejeros)

• 2  corn cobs
• 2 tablespoons smoked butter (see my recipe or just use plain butter)
• 2 garlic cloves – crushed / finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan
• 2 tablespoons mayo (I used kewpie)
• zest and juice of one lime
• teaspoon of sweet smoked paprika.

Preheat a cast iron grill or the BBQ. I used a grill so I took the husks off, if you use the BBQ, soak the corn for an hour and BBQ in the husk.

Crush the garlic finely and add to butter.  Melt together.

Brush the cobs with the melted butter and grill until they are cooked and a bit charred (about 12 mins turning often).

Grate cheese finely (use any hard cheese really, a hard goats cheese is traditional, but this isn’t about going out and buying a whole heap of ingredients) and mix with smoked paprika.  Mix mayonaise withe lime zest and juice and season with salt and pepper.

When the corn is cooked, brush it with butter, coat it with mayonnaise and roll it in the cheese.

Serve with extra lime.

If you decide to make this a favourite recipe I suggest you put in a stock of Chipotle smoked chilles.  These are available from Case Iberica (and possibly other places) in Melbourne, and are handier to have on hand in the pantry than smoked butter would be!

Chipotle Mayonnaise (Tommi Myers)

• 3 egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 3 teaspoons chipotles en adobo
• salt and pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 100ml olive oil
• 100 ml vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• ½ teaspoon castor sugar

In a blender process the egg yolks with the mustard, half of the chipotle and a good pinch of salt and pepper.  With the motor running, slowly pour in the oil to thicken and emulsify the mayo.

Add half the vinegar and the sugar and taste (it may not need the other half) and season. Add more chipotle is you’d like the mayo to be smokier, adjust seasoning to taste.

(I’ve just attempted making my own Chipotles en Adobo – if all goes well, I’ll post about it soon)

Sights, sounds and tastes from childhood can seem so ephemeral, but appear to be hard wired. Since my mother’s death some 9 months ago a few things have bubbled up to my heart and head and set me to thinking about how the past influences the past – and the future.

If you grew up in South Australia you will surely remember visiting the butcher and being given a slice of Fritz as a treat.  Quite transparently a way for the butchers to charm the mothers (ahh the things that we have left by the wayside) to ensure return business *grin*.

There are many stories about the origins of Fritz, but the most enduring one is that it is “just the same as devon or luncheon sausage”.  Now understand, it fills the same niche, Fritz and tomato sauce sandwiches being a staple in the lunchbox in the 70s and 80s (and possibly still now?), but Fritz is definiately NOT luncheon meat, or Pariser, or Balony* or Devon, or Windsor.

My mum used to say that all sausage like this across Australian was know as Bavarian, or German sausage; but only in South Australia,with it’s strong German immigrant population, did the German link stay on following the wars.

We were occasionally allowed to have Fritz sandwiches, and sometimes Dad would fry thick slices cut off the “bung” as part of Sunday breakfast, and there was the visits to the butcher. But be warned, Fritz bought in a log – or “bung” – is a very different beast from what was available pre-sliced at the deli counter in the supermarket (though that is still much better in flavour than Devon!). The bung actually refers to the part of the large intestine used for the casing – you’ll see it’s much thicker than a normal sausage.

So, when I was visiting the new-ish Bezela Free Range Deli in Carlton the other day, I noticed that a lot of their small goods come from Barossa Fine Foods, and eventually the fact that they Barossa is in South Australia finally wormed its way into my brain. I think I may have looked a bit rabid at this stage but I had to know …. can you get Fritz? Obviously used to childhood smallgood memories, Jess behind the counter pulled out her iPhone and googled. Yes they have Fritz, it came as a kilo “bung” – did I her to order me some?  Did I!  Holy moly I sure did!

So today, I picked up my kilo of Fritz.  I left some with Jess to entice others to join the revolution, got some sliced to give away to friends and fellow South Australians, and will chop up the rest for the freezer.

I didn’t open the packet as soon as I left, but it sure was open before I got home. I could smell the nutmeggy, garlicky, porky goodness!  A slice took me back a few decades instantly. Now that I’m older I’m sure it’s the mace that really makes this sausage.

Oh – and I’ll have at least one Fritz and tomato sauce sandwich on white bread!

So happy to have my food memories re-stoked

Oh – and Fritz is NOT Devon.

Have you tried Fritz? what food transports you right back to your childhood?

LINKS: Simon from The Cook and The Chef’s recipe for Fritz

* yep Baloney – the way they spell at the Deli counters in supermarkets not Bologna as it is more properly spelled.

I had spied the cumquat tree in a friend’s back yard a week ago, and had been craving the preserved cumquats I had eaten at The Hardware Societe one morning on their famous brioche.  There was also a thought about making mustard fruits and cumquat mustard fruits are my favourite, and so a plan was hatched!

I am so lucky that I know a lot of people who love food as much as I do, and I knew it wouldn’t be too hard to tempt them to come and help pick the cumquats, and make them into something entirely delicious.  I mentioned this to Benjamin Cooper, Head Chef and St Ali at Night, and he mentioned a duck with Chilli cumquat marmalade…I reckon I could eat some of that!  and some Cumquat Curd, and marmalade, and the aforementioned mustard fruits and preserved cumquats.

We descended in the middle of the afternoon of a stunning Spring day, and picked the 5 Seville oranges that were still hanging around…I hope they produce enough juice for Anna’s bitter orange curd.  Then we contemplated the backyard, the chook, Bill the happiest dog on the planet, and the cumquat tree.  It didn’t look that large.

We had a break for afternoon tea and chit chat about food (of course!) then back out to pick these delicious looking cumquats.

We estimated that we ended up with about 20 kilos of cumquats.  More than enough for us, and to spread around to a few “special friends”.  I’ll follow up with a post on what we made with them.

Thank you Felicity, we’ll see you at apricot, mulberry, fig and grape time!

There are times when I am very grateful for my mother’s approach to feeding my family as I was growing up.  Alhough Dad’s parents were British and Australian (4th or 5th gen); and my Mum was 6th Gen White Australian, we rarely ate the kind of food my friends often complain about – “English Style Coooking”.   The kind of cooking many of us grew up with – overcooked vegetables, grey roasts, soggy puddings and spam.

Thanks largely due to the Margaret Fulton Cookbook we had a varied diet of fried rice, curry (albeit with sultanas and Keen’s curry powder), pink lamb, lasagne and whatever took my mum’s fancy. So it’s interesting for me to “discover” traditional English foods through the, admitedly distorted, lens of Heston Blumenthal and, closer to home Matt Wilkinson.

And I’m liking what I see, and taste.

I guess many of you will know Matt from his days at Circa The Prince, where he worked with Andrew McConnell before taking over the kitchen.  A refit of the restaurant took the dining room into the courtyard space, and brought the kitchen garden inside.  We ate there earlier this year.

Matt is known for sourcing his ingredients locally and starting a kitchen garden at Circa, then continuing the theme to Pope Joan in Brunswick.

Nettle and Sorrel Omelette (from the garden) served with Meredith Feta

I reckon Matt likes his local farmers; I remember watching him walk out of the Collingwood Childrens’ Farm  Farmers’ Market one morning at around opening time, carrying a box of marvellous produce, cheeky grin on his face as we “mere mortals” were still queueing to get in. I haven’t seen many happier faces around I have to admit, and that’s what makes Matt’s cooking stand out for me.  He is absolutely committed to sourcing local and sustainable produce.

There’s a kitchen garden out the back of Pope Joan, which is located on a pretty uninspiring stretch of Nicholson street, south of RRR, north of Brunswick Road.

Although Matt seems to  hark for the “olden” days – having written pieces on “jugging” hare and making preserves, his approach to traditional foods is anything but old fashioned.  Meet the “new fashioned” traditional British breakfast.

“Not so big English Breakfast” Melbourne Pantry bacon, Green Eggs, Sausage and beans.

Pope Joan is a breakfast / lunch place, sitting firmly in the cafe space, but a cafe with a difference. The menu reads like a restaurant menu, the vibe is casual and sunny, the staff are  switched on and efficient and smartly dressed in olive and black. And they take cards… oh yes they do!

There’s a communal table in one corner and a bench along the other front window underneath the specials board.  The lunch specials have featured a truffled Clarines cheese, asparagus done a zillion different ways and salads, along with some heartier fare.

There is pile of books about Pope Joan at the register, not much around but some fairly industrial neighbours, a large outdoor dining area undercover and heated, a moosehead, and a chandelier.  How does this all come together again?

Ahh yes, the food. Maybe drawing on Matt’s memories of South Yorkshire breakfasts, there are coddled eggs, and corned beef fritters, soft and fragrant blood pudding from Pacdon and homemade HP sauce. And kedgeree.  Yes, kedgeree.  A few words about the kedgeree.

I wouldn’t normally order a kedgeree.  I don’t eat a lot of fish, and even less (well, no) smoked fish. This kedgeree is based on a light, al dente serve of saffron rice, with lots of smoked fish and hard boiled eggs stirred through.  It’s topped with baby coriander and mint, yogurt and a sprinkling of fried shallots. I know- it starts off English then swings right over there to Asian. And I loved it.  The freshness of the herbs kept me tasting it, and tasting it again. Other, more traditional (and English) friends have been disappointed that it hasn’t been baked to give it a crispy crusty bit.

The bacon and egg in a roll with homemade HP is served on a paper bag, coddled eggs with black pudding are combined with an anchovy salad, Corned Beef fritters and a fried egg are offset by a celeriac remoulade.  If the food had been this good at home … well.

And did I mention .. breakfast dessert?  Sweet cooked rice, mixed with whipped cream and topped with mango.  Banana bread toasted and served with strawberry cream. Yes, leave room.  Or come for morning tea. Or lunch?  Delicious sandwiches. Traditional, with a twist.

Creamed Rice. But not how I remember it.

They serve good Allpress coffee, and Ben Foster (Matt’s partner in all this) ensures the floor runs smoothly.  I’ve visited a number of times now and have only had one short wait for a table, but the place is never really empty that I can tell, but they are open from 7:30 am which is a godsend for those of us who need an EARLY coffee.  I’ve been there when Matt’s been cooking, and when he’s not.  There is a certain urgency in the kitchen when one of the bosses in on the pans, but I didn’t notice any difference in the quality of the food.

So go, relax and enjoy.  It’s like the food your nanna never made you.

But Matt, what ever happened to the Spam fritter, mushy peas, mustard fruits and fried egg you tweeted about?

Pope Joan

77-79 Nicholson Street

Brunswick East

9388 8858

I’m not sure why I’m surprised really…

For those of us with memories of a George Calombaris with more hair, practically having to beg us to eat his food (in the days of Reserve); it’s a bit of a hard ask to ignore the elephant in the room.

An indulgent day off recently, and a promise of seeing the Tim Burton exhibition on at ACMI without millions of other people, gave me the excuse to try Little Press for brunch.

I like the fit-out for Little Press: I like it’s huge windows which let in lovely southern light, are high enough so you don’t feel like the entire world can see you slacking off with a mid-week brunch.  I like the look of the place, even though the chairs have a strange edge to them which stops them from being really comfortable, but then, that may well be the way they are designed.  The service was fine, better than average, but not as good as some who have perfected the breakfast/brunch trade (always ask for the second coffee order – this is Melbourne!)

The menu was short with 11 options, featured toast ($7), granola and porridge ($10) as the “familiar” breakfast options, and then veered quickly into unknown territory.  Tsoureki ($15)?, Bastourma Jam??, Frouta Epohis Salad ????($12).

Nope – no Greek heritage in me, but the Spanokopita with poached egg ($14.50) and Chicken Crumbed Egg with Bastourma Jam ($8.50) made it onto our table.

Hmm… $8.50?  Darn it!  Now I have to change my whole review.  I was going to say that I shouldn’t have been surprised about feeling underwhelmed….wait a minute.  $8.50 is still quite a lot…hang on… now I really don’t know what to say.

The food, yeh OK, the food.  Both of my companions had the Spanakopita and I wish I had as well.  It looked quite nice, although a bit weird with it’s poached egg sitting jauntily on top.

The fried Chicken Crumbed Egg was.. well… a single Scotch Egg. On a pile of shredded iceberg.  With a few coriander stalks.  And a dish of really nice “Bastourma Jam” which tasted to me like a tamarind spiced tomato chutney.  I can’t find any reference to Bastourma that isn’t Turkish Air Dried Beef, so if anyone knows what this condiment was, can you please let me know?

But back to the Egg.  One egg. Coated with sausage mince and fried.  A scotch egg.  Singular.   And look closely boys and girls.  When was the last time you saw a fried food item nestled in a pile of shredded iceberg?

I was disappointed that it was one egg.  The lettuce was just laughable, but at least I didn’t pay $14 for it (which is what I thought it was before checking my notes).  It wasn’t enough for breakfast though the egg was nicely cooked and presented.

Hey George!  Would if have killed you to give me a piece of toast at least!

The coffee was OK, the carrot, apple and ginger juice felt expensive at $8.50 for a standard glass.

So we left the chef (sitting and chatting, not cooking) and the gansters in the corner, and headed off to a fun time at ACMI.

Not hurrying to go back for breakfast.

So – do I think he’s cashing in on his fame by overcharging for breakfast?  Yes, yes I do.  I hear you Gary Mehigan and Fenix, and raise you some shredded lettuce filler.

Who else has been?

The Age check out its wine bar credentials

3AW as a bar and late night snack place

The Broadsheet

Little Press

72 Flinders Street Melbourne

9677 9677

Breakfast Monday to Friday.

I often cook for one or two mouths, and I don’t really love eating leftovers the next day for work .. so I have a freezer full of odds and sods, bits and pieces, and “that’ll come in handy for later”.  Also, I shop at Farmers’s Markets a lot, and you can’t always plan your meals in advance, nor buy the exact amount you need. You have to “go with the flow” somewhat.

So … I’m getting a pretty full freezer.  I’m about to stuff a kilo of chestnuts into it, so I need to clean it out and use the food.

Here’s what I’ve got:

1. 1/2 pack chow mein noodles
2. 4 slices fruit toast
3. 12 small fetta filo pastries
4. 9 chicken and ginger dumplings
5. 5 sheets shortcrust pastry
6. 1 pack Careme sweet shortcrust pastry
7. Organic Oats
8. 800g of shredded cheese (lord knows!)
9. 1 punnet organic blueberries
10. 3 punnets mixed raspberries, strawberries and blueberries
11. 250g Fernleigh Farms eye bacon
12. 100g short cut bacon
13. 250g Fernleigh Farms ham
14. 2 x serves pumpkin lasagne
15. 3 x serves spinach and ricotta cannelloni
16. 2 vegie burgers
17. 1.1 litre’s of chicken stock (with another 2 litres in the fridge)
18. 1 serve of moroccan chicken stew
19. 1 home made pork and fennel sausage roll
20. 6 Pacdon English Pork Sausages
21. couple of dozen egg whites (macarons?)
22. 3 tablespoons lime juice
23. lime zest
24. pulp of 12 passionfruit
25. 300 ml pork stock.
26. 200ml Chang’s Pork Liqueur
27. Butter, various
28. Herbs, kaffir lime leaves etc, various
29. 500g lamb fillet
30. 500g beef mince

So, give me inspiration – make a combination, randomly or with some thought attached.  Help me to plough through this list, and this freezer.

(thanks but no, I don’t need any help “using up” the bottle of Grey Goose hiding in there… ta)

Yes, Food Inc is disturbing.  But not so horrible that you can’t watch it. Yes it is a bit depressing, but you can feel morally superior because “that’s not how we do things in Australia” … yet.

I did think I’d heard all this before, I’ve read Omnivores Dilemma, I’ve read Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal Vegetable …Miracle”; I shop at Farmers’ Markets; I hate large scale shopping centres of any kind;  I encourage others to do the same (mostly by taking bowls of delicious “just picked – no cool room” strawberries and cherries to work); what was here for me?

Well, I needed to see this film.  I needed to say that I had sat through it, I needed to strengthen my backbone and be a bit tougher with myself. I needed to see more of Joel Salatin.

Tammi’s fantastic post on listening to Joel Salatin at the Lake House in Daylesford reminded me of some of the things I said I would do.  See, I gutted chickens for a while to help pay for Uni.  I was a vegetarian for 16 years. I don’t wear fur, don’t anthropomorphise animals, don’t think that humans are superior to anything else living on this planet, I’m OK.  Surely.  But I realised that I can, and should, do more.

The ABC’s Landline program did a story on Joel’s recent trip to Oz, not his first.  What struck me was that many of the folk in the audience at the Lake House were primary producers.  Maybe they are right, maybe we, as consumers, just have to ask for it? It’s on iView.  Go have a look.

But I want to do more, I want to do more because I’m scared of WalMart stocking organic yogurt.  Just like I’m scared of McDonalds promising to use free-range eggs. There aren’t anywhere near enough free range eggs produced in Australia to supply McDonalds.  So what happens then?

Heck, I got nervous when I read about a well known chef talking about how great Schulz’s Organic Milk is.  That’s the milk I buy at my local Farmers’ Market.  I know Simon.  What’s going to happen if “mega-famous chef” builds a huge amount of demand for Simon’s milk?

Here are a few things I’m going to do/be better at as a result of having my conscience pricked:-

• Don’t waste food – if you buy it, use it!   I think this is the number one thing for me to work on.  It costs more than just what you spend to get that food to you, think of the fuel to move it, the paper to wrap it, the human power to prepare it.  And if that food has come from an animal, it may not have have a nice life, or death. Respect it and don’t waste it.
• Now that I’m not wasting food, I’m going to buy more from my farmers’ market.  I typically buy most of my veg there, but I’m going to eat less meat, and buy it from someone I know. I’m going to ask about how they raise their meat, how they kill their meat, how far they transport it.  I’m going to let the person who provides me with meat know that I appreciate what they are doing.
• I’m going to insist on grass-fed steak (at a minimum) if I order steak in a restaurant, and definitely buy grass fed beef for home.
• I’m going to join Slow Food.  I am a vocal supporter of raw milk, and raw milk cheese – why not go one step further.
• I’m going to keep on introducing people to their local Farmers’ Markets, by posts on this blog, and by good old one-on-one encouragement.
• I’m going to follow Michael Pollan on twitter @michaelpollan and read his website.
• I’m going to keep an eye on the Food Labelling Review that is going on at the moment.  I  wrote to my local members, but I’m going to keep reading the submissions and create noise if I don’t like what I read.
• I’m going to keep searching for local, accountable food.

As consumers, we’re not powerless.  We need to ask for what we want. Ask.

What can you do?