Gastronomy Puts Culture at the Heart of Northern Tasmania

What do you think of when you read the word gastronomy? This is a word that FermenTasmania has been exploring as part of the  Steering Group.

It is a word that makes perfect sense in French or Italian, but for most Tasmanians, it is not as clear. For many, gastronomy means molecular gastronomy and the world of fine dining and fancy dishes on Master Chef. For some, astronomy comes to mind and, when I talk about Launceston Gastronomy, people have asked me about the number of observatories we have in Northern Tasmania. Twitter did perhaps the worst job of interpreting it and suggested we might like to shorten the Launceston Gastronomy Twitter handle to @launcestongastro – not the best way to be selling the fabulous food and drink of the region! 

For us, the definition of gastronomy is simple – it is the way that people and culture connect to food.

People seek connections and we experience them in different ways. Sport, music, art – all are fantastic ways for people to connect, to create a harmonious bond in the moment. Food, however, is the ultimate connector. We all eat. And this means we are all part of our local food system, whether we realise it or not.

Launceston Gastronomy is a project that seeks to grow and nurture the connections forged in food to create positive change in the Northern Tasmanian community. It is putting food and culture at the heart of our community and to do this takes a collaborative approach, incorporating industry, government, academia, community, and our environment.

Launceston Gastronomy is about to take an important step on this journey by submitting a bid to become a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy. By joining this network, Launceston and Northern Tasmania are taking our aspirations for food and drink in our region to a global stage, with a vision that we can be one of the world’s great regional food cities. It is a way to take a taste of Tasmania to the world, but also a way to use global best practices to address the challenges facing our agri-food systems: food security, water policy, climate change, social inclusivity, meaningful work, and education and more.

The idea for the bid grew from a visit to Östersund as part of FermenTasmania’s global scoping study for our Fermentation Hub. It has been amazing to see this seed of an idea germinate and grow in the fertile soils of Northern Tasmania. Now, we are shooting for the stars, gastronomically speaking, as we submit the only 2021 Australian bid to join the Creative Cities Network. The outcome of the bid is due in November, so watch this space to see how food and fermentation transform our people, our products and our place.