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Session 1 & 2

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What is a Social Enterprise?

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'Connecting the world with data we can trust'

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Find out what statistics can tell us and why it’s important to understand the difference between good and bad data.

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Session 3 Extension : Critical Analysis & Marketing 

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Session 3 Extension : Critical Analysis & Marketing 

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#wokewashing is when a corporation, institution or individual says or does something that signals their advocacy for a marginalized cause but also continues to cause harm to vulnerable communities.

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Some of our most beloved brands are doing more harm than good to workers, the environment, the list goes on and on. Instead of improving their practices, they practice #wokewashing. We aim to inform you so you can improve your choices and companies can improve their impact, but we cannot achieve our goals alone.

Find out how you can help.

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Some of our most beloved brands are doing more harm than good to workers, the environment, the list goes on and on. Instead of improving their practices, they practice #wokewashing. We aim to inform you so you can improve your choices and companies can improve their impact, but we cannot achieve our goals alone.

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Enterprising People

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Acknowledgement of Country

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Charcoal Lane - 3 Course set menu - 2020

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Is eating kangaroo meat better for the environment?

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Is eating kangaroo meat better for the environment?

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Overall, eating Kangaroo meat is more sustainable and better for the environment than most other meat consumption. As kangaroos are indigenous to the Australian environment they can get by on eating a variety of indigenous scrub and do not rely on the production of grain.

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A food revolution is building in West Africa. Hundreds of women in land-locked Mali are harvesting the diverse potential of ancient plants and working with visionary entrepreneur Oumar Barou Togola to create a market for them.

The venture is transforming their lives, and the resilient crops are offering a sustainable and nutritious food source to the world.

There are more than 50,000 known edible plants on Earth, but fewer than 300 species reach the market. The "big three" - corn, wheat and rice - make up a whopping two-thirds of plant-sourced food.

This is unsustainable in the face of pests, climate change, food insecurity and nutrient-poor diets, and Togola's initiative is part of a global push to put lesser known foods on people's plates to boost crop diversity, resilience and viability.

A "son of Mali", Togola is the youngest child of parents who inspired him with their drive to support people more disadvantaged.

His hydrologist father worked with UNICEF, showing communities how to access clean water. His midwife mother dedicated herself to helping women and children, and he was moved by witnessing the challenges these women face, for little return.

A typical day involved getting up early to prepare breakfast for the family, walking 10 kilometres to the farm, working all day while looking after the children, returning home to cook dinner, then going to bed ready to start all over again. Every Wednesday they would walk seven kilometres to the local market with their produce and were lucky if they returned home with 25 or 50 cents.

Credit: ULLSTEIN BILD / GETTY

Togola's parents sent him to a Canadian boarding school when he was 16. He returned with university business qualifications and a yearning to help his people. After consulting with his parents, he decided to explore Africa's natural resources while seeking ways to offer women opportunities to take charge of their lives.

"By putting women at the centre of our society, by building the infrastructure around women, this world would be a very different place," he says. "It's a must for us to advance as a society."

He knew consultation was important, so he sat down with women farmers to identify their needs. "And they told me they love growing fonio, they love farming, but it is too hard to access the market."

Fonio ( Digitaria exilis) is thought to be Africa's oldest grain, with cultivation dating back to 5000 BCE. It thrives in tough conditions with poor, rocky soils, little water and no pesticides. It has a low glycemic index, and Togola sees it as an ideal alternative to rice, which dominates African meals while diabetes dominates African health.

But producing fonio used to be a labour of love. Before Togola partnered with the women farmers, they would manually cut and dehull the plant, taking an hour to produce just six kilograms of grain.

He invested in local equipment that enabled them to produce more than 250 kilograms an hour - increasing productivity more than 40-fold.

So the company Farafena was born (the word means "African" in Bambara, Mali's national language), with the aim of creating a large market for fonio and other African food crops. Starting with just 15 farmers five years ago, it now partners with 850 women.

Business is good and the very African produce has been embraced by consumers in Canada and the US. But the company has vowed that it will only ever buy 80% of the available produce, to ensure it remains accessible and affordable to locals.

The venture's success has not escaped the attention of Mali's men, who grow more popular yet less sustainable crops such rice and cotton. Having gifted the women small parcels of land to grow "peasant food", they are starting to appreciate its value.

"We did an interview with some of the woman farmers," says Togola, "and a few of the husbands wanted to speak up about what Farafena has done for their wives.

"One man told me that his wife was able to go purchase a baguette with a can of tuna and brought it to him for lunch. These are things we take for granted. But oh my god, tuna! Here it has high value in those small villages."

The women have created an income that enables them to be independent and educate their children. And young people are in abundance; 60% of Africa's population is under 25.

"By women having the tools to educate that generation, Africa will be an incredible continent," Togola says.

When initially discussing food options, the company came up with a list of potential African crops. Currently they produce fonio, baobab and moringa but have around 30 more on the menu.

Baobab trees are among the oldest in the world, staunchly rooted in the ground for 1100 to 2500 years. The African species, Adansonia digitata, is a core element of local culture and stories. It produces fruit pods containing a flavourful powder. One of the most nutritious fruits in the world, baobab is high in potassium and fibre and has six times more vitamin C than oranges.

Moringa ( Moringa oleifera) - also known as the drumstick tree, miracle tree and horseradish tree - grows rapidly in parts of Africa, India, Southeast Asia and South America. Also highly nutritious, it has traditionally been used for its health benefits and potent medicinal applications.

According to Togola, who has each batch of products shipped to Canada nutritionally tested, moringa is "the most nutritious leafy green in the world". In Mali, the leaves are cooked much like spinach or used in salads. It is also sold as a powder which can be used for tea or added to smoothies and salad dressings.

The leaves are rich in ß-carotene, protein, vitamin C, calcium, potassium and antioxidants. The fruit, flowers and immature pods are also eaten, and the root, bark, gum, seed and seed oil are used medicinally.

Moringa is well suited to Australian conditions and is currently grown in the state of Queensland. But Australia itself has hundreds of edible native plants that Aboriginal people have used as food and medicine for at least 60,000 years.

"Australia has much to teach the world about plant diversity and human enrichment on ancient landscapes," says botanist Stephen Hopper.

Geoff Woodall, a native plant agronomist from Western Australia, has spent a chunk of his career researching the growth potential of native root vegetables, or tubers. It was something he heard at a conference years ago that hooked him.

"There was some fancy chef from Sydney who opened the conference and he said he was sick of serving up kangaroo with mashed potatoes and peas," he recalls.

"So, while at that stage the bush food industry was big on condiments and spices, like a little bit of quandong jam on the side or a bit of lemon myrtle, no-one was really focusing on the staples."

Of 200 tubers commonly unearthed in southern Western Australia, Woodall identified two or three with marketing potential, including youlk ( Platysace deflexa), a bush carrot, and kulyu ( Ipomoea calobra), similar to sweet potato.

Woodall collaborates with indigenous communities, encouraging them to grow the crops and reconnect with native foods. The tubers are particularly suited to their nomadic lifestyle and culture. Apart from a little care to establish the crops, they require very little water.

"These things are as tough as old boots," he says. "You plant them and they need a bit of work to get going, but once they're established, they're ready to harvest whenever they ripen and whenever the land owners decide it's a good time."

And there's a good potential market. "There's easily a demand for about 300 tonnes per annum," he notes, "but we're mucking around with a couple of hundred kilos."

There's also a strong cultural component that captivates people, Woodall says. "[People are] not just fascinated that it's now being cultivated; they're fascinated a) that it tastes quite nice, and b) that it was an Aboriginal food."

As well as tubers, a plethora of edible plants thrives in Australian conditions, including nuts, herbs, spices, warrigal greens, or native spinach ( Tetragonia tetragonioides), bush onion (Haemodorum spicatum), phytonutrient-rich fruits, and even native rice ( Oryza meridionalis).

Grains have also received some attention, including native millet ( Echinochloa turnerana) and kangaroo grass ( Themeda triandra). Indeed, evidence hints that indigenous Australians could have been the first bakers, says Bruce Pascoe, an indigenous author and historian.

Pascoe has been working with leading chefs, experimenting with breads made from native grains. Paul Iskov is among them, and says one of the tastiest dampers, a form of simple bread, he ever made was derived from spinifex (Triodia).

Iskov uses Woodall's tubers. Like other chefs, he is committed to showcasing wild Australian foods, intact with their stories. After working his way through fancy restaurants around the world, he returned home inspired to focus on native ingredients against a backdrop of the country's unspoiled landscapes.

Based in Western Australia, he created the pop-up restaurant Fervor with a menu dominated by native ingredients served with a unique outdoor experience for diners.

While bush food was trendy in the 1990s, he now believes it's a huge market that is here to stay. But meeting demand from restaurants and health food markets remains challenging.

Building an industry around native foods is a slow process. Iskov estimates that native rice, for instance, currently costs a prohibitive $100 or more per kilogram.

One challenge is to develop cost-effective methods to harvest and process the crops on a larger scale. Others include indigenous intellectual property rights and environmental considerations. But research is growing, and the native food industry is rapidly gaining traction.

Like Togola and Woodall, Iskov is committed to keeping profits in the local communities, with a national network of wild harvesters who collect food when it's in season. When they travel between locations, Fervor chefs try to work with traditional land owners to collect local ingredients.

Iskov says when he and his partner were foraging with locals along the coastline of South Africa, they discovered species similar to those found in Australia. This is not surprising, though, given the similar climates.

Globally, growing diverse, resilient crops is an escalating imperative to address challenges for sustainability, Hopper argues. The benefits are manifold, including better health and nutrition, clean water, climate change adaptation, and cultural diversity.

To that end, he writes: "Targeted plant diversity science and cross-cultural learning with Aboriginal people ... offer some solutions to global problems and an important message of hope."

With their majestic, parched landscapes and rich cultural histories of nutritious, resilient food crops, indigenous Australia and Africa have much to contribute.

And we can all draw inspiration from Togola. Eventually, he plans to collaborate with women from across the African continent and showcase the diversity of native food. "Mali is one country out of 55, and each country is different - they have their own crops, their own fruit and their own legumes."

But, he says, "it's not just an African initiative; it's a global issue. Sustainability is key - and working with women, putting women in a position for success.

We have to all join forces and find solutions. We are a global community; we work together."

This article appears in Issue 82 of Cosmos magazine. To subscribe, and have the latest science delivered direct to your door or inbox, click here.

Originally published by Cosmos as Little-known bush foods set to change the world

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Little-known bush foods set to change the world

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A food revolution is building in West Africa. Hundreds of women in land-locked Mali are harvesting the diverse potential of ancient plants and working with visionary entrepreneur Oumar Barou Togola to create a market for them. The venture is transforming their lives, and the resilient crops are offering a sustainable and nutritious food source to the world.

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Before European settlers arrived in Australia, there was a thriving food culture, one that happily sustained the Aboriginal people for tens of thousands of years. However, that food culture, often referred to as bush tucker, has been largely ignored over the past 200 years.

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The value of eating local sustainable produce has been promoted over the last decade for its benefits - fresher food, better environmental practices, reduced food miles, support of local farmers and economies. This, as in many countries, has manifested itself in Australia through an increase in farmers' markets, community gardens, local food boxes and restaurants specialising in farm to table cuisine, all of which are positive developments in fostering a better relationship between people and their food. Nevertheless, these issues need to be explored further, examining and questioning what is 'local' and 'sustainable'. In the case of Australia, as a 'foodie', cosmopolitan and multicultural society that wholeheartedly embraces ethnic cuisines from around the world, Australians remain surprisingly unaware about what is native and indigenous Australian food.

Most foods consumed in Australia are not native to the continent but were introduced by British settlers or subsequently brought in with later waves of immigration from Europe and Asia. Many of the staples grown, such as wheat, soybean and barley crops, have suffered lower yields following the substantial increase in temperatures as a result of climate change. Yet for more than 50,000 years Aboriginal Australians cultivated and domesticated crops that were native to the continent, and therefore better adapted to its temperature and environmental pressures, providing great abundance, nutrition and diversity of food to Indigenous communities. Why local flora and fauna has not been embraced as a food source, and the knowledge of Aboriginal peoples revered and preserved, very much ties into the country's history of colonisation. A native Australian food sector has been slow to emerge but is gaining traction and is likely, in the coming years, to rewrite a more authentic local and sustainable food paradigm.

Towards a truer account

Australians' relationship to native foods and Indigenous foodways, stems from colonisation and the Anglo-centric attitudes which characterised Aboriginal Australians as primitive. Aboriginal Australians were labelled hunter-gatherers by British settlers, who did not recognize the value of Aboriginal culture and Aborigines' relationship to the land and their agricultural practices, which the settlers sought to eradicate in favour of European ones. The legacy of colonisation and its dismissal of Aboriginal Australians was devastating in the loss of life and culture, dispossession of native lands and foodways, as well as disease. Similarily, the colonial viewpoint has informed much of Australia's knowledge of and perspective on Aboriginal Australia, with a legacy of ignorance perpetuating a lack of interest in native foods and Indigenous foodways.

This Anglo-centric narrative, however, has recently been challenged by two prominent authors, revealing that Aboriginal Australians were far from the primitive hunter-gatherers which the British settlers depicted them as. Historian and Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University, Bill Gammage, in his book The Biggest Estate on Earth - How Aborigines Made Australia, dispels the notion that Aboriginal Australians were "wandering savages". Visual and written records demonstrate that Aboriginal Australians had developed and implemented complicated land management practices which gave them access to an abundance of food and shelter, as well as maintaining the health of the environment and the biodiversity of flora and fauna. Gammage explains the importance of fire within Aboriginal land management and how this technique should be reintroduced into modern land management practices, as controlled burning encourages growth of native grasses, reduces excessive flammable scrub, minimising the intensity of bushfires, and supports biodiversity. Indigenous author and professor, Bruce Pascoe, Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at University of Technology Sydney, in his book Dark Emu, Black Seeds: Agriculture or Accident goes on to successfully dismiss the colonial myth of the Aborigines as hunter-gatherers and, drawing on the diaries of explorers, presents a more accurate portrayal of Aboriginal Australians as agriculturalists extensively involved with food production and land management systems, including domesticating plants, sowing, harvesting, irrigating and storing crops, and implementing aquaculture and other farming practices. These two seminal works have introduced a new and timely conversation in Australia that rewrites the hunter-gatherer myth and forces recognition of Aboriginal Australians' extraordinary sustainable land and resource management practices. Furthermore, it has sparked a wider interest in native Australian foods: what they are and why they are beneficial to both environment and health.

Environmentally local and sustainable

Given the current environmental crisis that is felt acutely in Australia through increased droughts, bush fires, severe loss of biodiversity, the poor state of Australian soils and climate change, farming and land management practices that are more regenerative and environmentally harmonious are being sought. The environmental benefits of cultivating Australian native plants over imported varietals that require heavy irrigation and lead to soil salinity and loss of habitat, couldn't be more compelling. As Bruce Pascoe puts it "Aboriginal domesticates do not require any more moisture than the Australian climate provides, no more fertiliser than our soils already contain and, as they are adapted to Australian pests, they need no pesticides." These perennial plants are adapted to Australia's dry conditions and, consequently, better able to deal with the environmental stresses of the future. They also create habitat and are therefore, by definition, the best local and sustainable choice. Aboriginal staples pre-colonisation such as the Murnong yam daisy, which is a tuber, needs very little water and is a great alternative to the common potato with a slight coconut flavour. Similarly, Pascoe argues, Australians should be consuming more native fauna like kangaroo and wallaby that was also once an Aboriginal food, instead of hoofed animals such as sheep and cattle which were introduced by settlers. Australian fauna is adapted to the environment, puts less pressure on water supplies, does not compact the soil, and by cultivating genetic diversity - which has been greatly reduced in our food system - increases resilience. Eating locally and sustainably in Australia needs to take into account native fauna and flora that can support Australia's unique and varied ecosystems without placing further pressure on finite resources; 'local food' must be integrally linked to indigenous species and varietals.

Native superfoods

On top of the environmental benefits of cultivating Australian foods, they are also a powerhouse of nutrition, high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Author John Newtown, in his book The Oldest Foods on Earth: A History of Australian Native Foods, explains that it is due to Australia's varied climatic zones, with low and unpredictable rainfall, stressing these plants, and the fact they are wild varietals, that results in their nutritional density. One example is the Quandong, commonly known as a 'wild peach'; it is often referred to as an Australian 'superfood'. A versatile plant that has traditionally been a part of an Indigenous diet, the Quandong is used as both food and medicine. It has twice as much vitamin C as an orange and is a good source of vitamins and minerals. It is high in antioxidants and contains higher levels of folate, magnesium, iron and calcium than blueberries. There also exists good native Australian substitutes for common European varietals. These include the Warrigal green, similar to spinach, the Illawarra plum, river mint and indigenous varietals of thyme and ginger. Australia also has its very own native rices which are highly nutritious due to their genetic diversity and grow abundantly in Australia's monsoons. Rice was a staple crop that was harvested for thousands of years by Indigenous peoples. However, much knowledge has been lost in relation to its preparation, and modern milling practices are not effective in removing all of the husk, leaving some grains damaged. While the nutritional value of many native foods is understood, there is still much more research to be done on Australian flora and fauna.

Extending knowledge

There is growing recognition of the value of Australia's native produce and a need to capture what knowledge there still is of Indigenous land management practices and the cultivation and preparation of many of these foods, before it disappears entirely. Alongside this, is a desire to make these foods more widely available and this has prompted various initiatives and projects which seek to capture and document this important ancient knowledge. Bruce Pascoe set up Gurandgi Munjie, a farming project focused on growing traditional indigenous crops such as kangaroo grass in order to mill it for flour and make bread, demonstrating that Indigenous Australians were the first bakers. Such projects help recover Aboriginal cultural knowledge and its traditional foods.

The Orana Foundation, headed by Chef Jock Zonfrillo of the restaurant Orana, was set up in order to "assist Indigenous communities by stimulating...enterprise". Zonfrillo, who is at the forefront of redefining Australian cuisine with native Australian foods, wanted to give back to the communities he had learnt from. The organisation has been involved in various projects, including setting up an Indigenous food database and doing plant production assessments. It is aiming to set up commercial enterprises in the hands of Aboriginal people, working with these native foods.

The Australian Native and Food Botanical (ANFAB) was set up ten years ago as the primary national body responsible for overseeing the sustainable development of the native food industry. At the heart of these initiatives is the recognition that not only is it important to protect and maintain Indigenous knowledge, but in the process celebrate and engage with its culture. It is imperative that the Australian native food industry expands with due recognition and Aboriginal participation, but most importantly, ownership by Aboriginal Australians. Currently the industry is estimated to be worth nearly £8 million, however with the domestic and international export potential yet to be realized, it is expected to grow.

The success of the industry's growth - which must have lasting impacts that go beyond culinary trends - will be certain if Indigenous land and resource management techniques are integrated with current ones, and Aboriginal Australians are recognized for their historically sustainable cultivation of the land. This can only happen if Aboriginal Australians are at the forefront of the industry and are given both governmental support and more access to land. Simultaneously Australian consumers should be educated not only in the culinary uses of various native foods, but in their cultural significance, recognising Australia's true local sustainable foods.
Photograph: Jean and Fred

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Aboriginal foodways: Towards a return of native food in Australia - Sustainable Food Trust

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The value of eating local sustainable produce has been promoted over the last decade for its benefits - fresher food, better environmental practices, reduced food miles, support of local farmers and economies.

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For tens of thousands of years, the area around Uluru and Kata Tjuta provided Anangu with everything needed for survival, including many bush foods and traditional tools.

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Courtney Barnett - Charcoal Lane (featuring Paul Kelly) (MTV Unplugged Live In Melbourne)