The smells from the kitchen of The Bush Goddess are fabulous......we've been preparing delicious ecological and organic food for a catering gig tonight and the menu includes:

• tiny organic Thai chicken rolls in proper butter puff pastry (no trans-fatty acids from commercial pastries which use emulsifiers and other ghastly short-cuts)
• individual roasted pumpkin and garlic tartlets with a quinoa (gluten-free) short pastry
• Guacamole and crudites
• An antipasto platter of smoked organic meats and small goods with olives
• The internationally famous Bush Goddess Desert dukkah, extra virgin olive oil and very good Turkish bread, and
• A platter of in-season pears and apples from our wonderful orchardist near Orange, NSW

We love planning and preparing menus for our clients. and.....we ALWAYS and ONLY use organic and/or ecological foods - full of flavour, nutrition and character.........like us!!

Foods Ain't Foods

Greetings from The Bush Goddess ~ a passionista for healthy soils which produce nourishing and flavoursome foods which don't cost the earth. When I ask some people if they know where their food comes from, they stare back in disbelief - probably wondering if I am mad and haven't anything sensible to do with my time.

"The price of fuel and energy, mortgage-rate rises and how my children are doing at school are far more important matters at present" is a frequent response. "And anyway, why does it matter? Food is food - it's all the same, isn't it?"

And at this point, dear readers......is where I ask a few more probing questions to determine how much {or how little} knowledge people have about the quality of the stuff they put into their mouths at least three times every day. I have to confess I am appalled at the lack of interest - often called apathy - about how the amazing human body functions, even when fed crap yet all hell breaks loose when the poor organism starts developing symptoms and affecting the day-to-day habits of the owner.

How often do you think about your body - yes, every bit of it.....the lungs, brain, heart, kidneys, liver, testes, ovaries, eyes, mucosal membranes, ears, skin and stomach, to mention a few bits and pieces we all rely on....until something goes wrong.....a pain in the knee, a weepy eye, a persistent cough, headaches, diarrhoea or stomach cramps. All of a sudden, our attention is focussed on this recalcitrant section of "us" which has stopped functioning.......but, do you ask why is this so?

I am staggered at the resilience of the human organism in the face of the ABUSE most of them receive every day. The most obvious abuses are from cigarettes, excessive alcohol, trans-fatty acids, synthetic food colourings, flavour enhancers, preservatives, synthetic vitamins,multiple-processes so the original food is almost totally de-natured, pasteurisation, heat-treatment and over-cooking.

With an abundance of research demonstrating the majority of diseases in Australia are preventable, I am still staggered the link between the processed crap masquerading as food AND these illnesses hasn't been made. When will the respective state and federal departments of Agriculture (substitute agri-business here) and the Department of Illness (health is not the focus of this department) have a bit of a gabfest, take off their blinkers and join a few dots....????

"Look at this Beryl.....the rise of childhood asthma has increased in areas which also have higher usage rates of agri-chemicals."
"And, Cedric......if you correlate the rates of Ritalin being prescribed and the amount of processed foods being eaten by these children, by golly, there could be something linking the two together. I wonder....."

Perhaps this is the start of enlightenment...otherwise known as personal responsibility.....which leads to activism and taking control of one's destiny........LET'S GO..............