How Good Are Humans

Gettin' some 'Straya in ya belly, yum yum | Samantha "The Bush Tukka Woman" Martin

Isaac McCarthy Season 6 Episode 17

To walk into Coles or Woolworths is a step into a foreign land. Row upon row, aisle upon aisle, an abundance of food, will sit before our eyes. Some, maybe most of it, has been grown or produced in Australia, but nearly all of did not originate here. Its native lands are across the seas.

Before 1788, Australia was a nation with its own food sustaining a continent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples. Then the colonisation of foreign plants and animals cleared out native produce until bush tucker, as it has come to be known, became little more than a gimmick that grew out in "woop woop". Barely any native foods are consumed by modern Australians. Barely any of it is known. Some, like the lean kangaroo and gamey goanna, stand in plain view not as food but as amusing decorations on the landscape. 

Some people have made it their mission to guide our focus toward and change our perspectives of Australian foods. One of them, perhaps the top example, is Samatha Martin, also known as the Bush Tukka Woman. 

So slide some lemon myrtle boomer tail between ya teeth and get stuck into this juicy podcast episode all about real Australian foods.