Nourish Talks were playful and meaningful events about nature, lifestyle, wellbeing and community, designed to uplift in a world that can seem heavy at times. The talks got at tough issues, in gentle and beautiful ways, to make change feel like an exciting opportunity, not an impossible burden.
AUTUMN 2015: ‘Inverting the inverted: getting real about Sydney’s seasons’
Nourish (Autumn) featured knowledge keeper and Mindjingbal man Clarence Slockee and beloved Australian actress Mandy McElhinney.
‘Getting Real About Sydney’s Seasons’ wove together cultural, agricultural and botanical knowledge to show Sydney seasons in a profoundly different way, taking account of ancient and living Indigenous knowledge, not simply relying on an inverted version of Europe’s Summer – Autumn – Winter – Spring. April might be the middle of what is called Autumn in Sydney, but inaugural Nourish speaker Clarence Slockee reminded us that the European seasonal calendar is a clumsy fit for a nation on the other side of the planet. In Sydney, this time of year means eating the last of the Bunya Nuts, watching for the Davidson Plums and Lilly Pillys to ripen and the skies being filled with parrots and flying foxes. Seasonality, in Indigenous knowledge systems throughout Australia, takes cues not from fixed calendar dates, but instead from observing what’s happening with weather, plants and animals.
Nourish (Autumn) was on Thursday April 16, 2015 from 6:30pm at St Canice’s in Kings Cross
WINTER 2015: ‘City Sustainability’
Nourish (Winter) featured Australia’s favourite garden gnome Costa Georgiadis, urban hero Michael Mobbs, foreign correspondent turned global songstress Ange Takats, and broadcaster and author Lucienne Joy.
‘City Sustainability’ had Michael, Costa and Lucienne deep in conversation about food, ecological footprints, community, friendship, transformation, consumption and how living more sustainably in the city is only a few decisions away. Audience members spent time in St Canice’s Kitchen Garden, seeing first-hand the power of urban community-driven agriculture to kick big social, ecological, and spiritual goals.
Nourish (Winter) was on Thursday July 23, 2015 from 6:30 pm at St Canice’s in Kings Cross
SPRING 2015: ‘Food and Hope’
Nourish (Spring) was proudly part of The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Month and a collaboration with The Welcome Dinner Project. It featured queen of rice paper rolls Nahji Chu, community hero Haitham Jaiju, foodie extraordinaire Joanna Savill, music from the spellbinding Alphamama and socially-conscious chef Evan Pemberton (Seed2Soul Workshops).
‘Food and Hope’ explored the role of food in the refugee experience, discovering how a spring roll or a pot of rice or a meal shared with total strangers can change almost everything for the better. We celebrated the delicious amongst the perils and the promise of seeking a safe life on Australian shores.
Nourish (Spring) was a Sydney Good Food Month event on Thursday October 22, 2015 from 6:30 pm at St Canice’s in Kings Cross
AUTUMN 2016: ‘The Ground Beneath’
Nourish (Autumn) featured Australia’s prince of soil Costa Georgiadis, environmental scientist and Dharawal elder Aunty Fran Bodkin, renowned Australian vocalist Darren Percival, award-winning landscape designer Nicola Cameron (Pepo), acclaimed brewer Agi Gajic (Young Henrys), and master of Thai cooking Ty Bellingham (Bright Hospitality).
‘The Ground Beneath’ was a celebration of soil. We walk on it every day. Almost everything we eat comes from it. Healthy soil assures the future of our planet and damaged soil is one of the biggest dangers we face. We can make soil in backyards and balconies by composting, and on big scales by supporting farmers who grow our food in sustainable ways. Soil – our planet’s great unsung hero – was the star of our final Nourish event in the pop-up series.
Nourish (Autumn) was on Thursday April 14, 2016 from 6:30 pm at St Canice’s in Kings Cross