Paddock to Plate: Illustrated Thematic History of Food and Wine in Orange and Region
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Paddock to Plate: Illustrated Thematic History of Food and Wine in Orange and Region Jennifer Forest Table of Contents Introduction 1 1 Environment 11 2 Wiradjuri 23 3 Farming 34 4 Gold 48 5 Fruit 53 6 Produce 70 7 Wine 77 8 Technology 89 9 Manufacturing 99 10 Distribution 114 11 Retail 122 12 Migration 139 13 At Home 146 14 Community 170 15 Celebration 179 Bibliography 191 Introduction Presented here is the story of food and wine in Orange and district over time. It is stage one of the development for the Paddock to Plate exhibition to open at Orange Regional Museum in April 2008. It is primarily written for the development team in the next stage who will go on to prepare the exhibition. The guiding question, therefore, is: what will they need out of this document? So this document tells the historical story of food and wine structured by 15 key themes, and addresses the myriad of components in creating an exhibition through the identification of key story elements, and potential people profiles, objects, films and photographs that could be used in the exhibition. The visitor Writing this report, I have also kept in mind that the very end user of all this information will be the museum visitor. All exhibition development starts and ends with the visitor. It is their experience and their need, which structure the actual end outcome: the exhibition. So in writing this document, as that stage one, I have always held in mind who the visitor is and what we know about their needs, and how they use exhibition spaces. For the purposes of this exhibition the two groups of visitors I have identified are: 1. Out-of-town cultural tourism / experiential visitors, and 2. Local district residents. Given that the exhibition is to open to coincide with the major festival F.O.O.D. Week in April 2018, and given the topic, it will most likely attract out-of-town visitors specifically coming to the region for food and wine experiences. This is predominantly the Sydney market where Orange already has a significant destination presence. There has also been some more moderate reach into other possible visitor sources like Canberra over recent years. This source of visitors can further be broken down into target segments and while this is not the purpose of this document it would be fairly safe to assume that they will be in order of likely size: older empty nester couples, young pre-children couples, friendship groups and families with children. Local district residents also form the other likely visitor market, who come for their own community based experiences and often for cultural tourism, education or nostalgia purposes. They will also play a crucial role in promoting the exhibition to visiting friends and family. The search for meaning The search for the meaning of the story drives my research and content creation. The importance of meaning differentiates a well-told professional story from the mediocre. It is what justifies the existence of this story, at this time and place, and with this commitment of resources. INTRODUCTION 1 So this then raises questions such as: Why did this story happen here? Why does food and wine matter to the people of this region? What makes this story important, different or necessary to be told today? I hope this report answers those questions. At the beginning of each chapter therefore I have identified why this particular theme is of relevance to the bigger story being told in Paddock to Plate. The multiple ways of perceiving food It’s possible to look at the story of food and wine from various angles. There is the ‘origins’ angle. Where does food come from? Our modern food system has encouraged us, the food consumer and eater to remove ourselves from the reality of food production. But it takes a lot of time and effort to make food, and people in the past well and truly knew that. My research for this report really heightened my awareness of the long, long hours it takes to grow food, and the amount of time and energy need to turn it into edible meals. Only 100 years ago, many people were still actively involved in the daily hard work of producing food. Today we aren’t. Today many have forgotten what it takes. Many have never known what to forget. So it is possible to look at food from that angle. What does it take to get this apple in my fruit bowl? Or to serve me this roast beef with its slices of meat sitting next to pumpkin, peas and potatoes. This is the approach I have taken in the report. I have started with the environment, as all food production starts with it, and then moved on to following the process of getting that apple or that roast beef to the table. I have then looked at how we use that food once we have it in our bags and our cupboards: at home, in the community and through celebration. There are many other ways of seeing food. It would be possible to look at it through the prism of nutrition, or cultural inheritance or food memory or indeed, even the meals so start with breakfast and so on. Most peoples’ experience of food start in the home, and their understanding of food at its very core can still be informed by family practice many decades later. What is selected to be eaten, what is brought, cooked, the respect or disdain in which food was treated, the cultural or religious traditions which informed its preparation are all part of flipping the way we look at food and start from the other end of the food chain, the plate in front of you. INTRODUCTION 2 Orange and district Orange and region are defined as the council areas of Orange City Council, Carbonne Council and Blayney Council. The key settlements within these collective boundaries are Orange, Molong, Eugowra, Canowindra, Blayney, Carcoar and Millthorpe. Region topographic map, eSpade, NSW Department of Environment and Heritage The district though is more than just a map. What stood out in my research and meeting people in the district is the distinctive nature of Orange and region. Australia is a big country and many regional areas have struggled since the 1960s to find a place for its people, its businesses and way of life. But Orange has found its place, and its almost like Orange always had a place, which has not been lost. Reading about the Wiradjuri experiences of using the land here, you can feel their closeness and intimate knowledge of every part of the environment. Reading newspaper articles on TROVE I would come across a reference to a group of locals petitioning their local member for the railway or another group of local businesses would have a display of grapes in Sydney CBD in 1926. Visiting with the local historical societies and museums, I came away encouraged by the commitment and seriousness with which they have over many years applied to their voluntary work. I also spoke with Rhonda Taylor (Sear) of Brand Orange in early July 2017 to find out the factors she would identify in Orange’s successful holding of place, but not just holding, its success in also creating a distinct, viable identity. Rhonda identified firstly that Orange has always had something to offer its residents and visitors. Good agricultural land and climate has let it first become a small- holder agricultural hub with the emphasis on farm and orchard produce. In more recent decades, INTRODUCTION 3 this has then been leveraged into making Orange a food and wine tourism destination. Building on what is already here, Rhonda then identified that the region has had strong leadership from the community and business sector, who are also very good at coordinating state and local government involvement. And in my research of the two centuries of history of the region, I can see this at work. George Hawke, so well-known in the district, has a vision for a commercial orchard. A few decades later, Molong orchardists planted extensive vineyards. Today, Paula Charnock and her family on Thornbrook Orchard don’t stick with past models but change and go local and go people focused. The last factor Rhonda identified was that the community has a strong tradition of voluntary involvement. Without the volunteers many of the events and festivals, which make Orange and district couldn’t go ahead. I noticed this too in the depth of commitment from the local historical societies and museums, and their willingness to help out be that from searching out or sharing decades of personal research with me. Which all just goes to draw me back to my original point, that a map shows you the physical district but it's the people who make sure it has a sense of place and future. My thanks go to all those people who did give me their time and share with me their resources, years of research and hunt out more. In particular, Elisabeth Edwards and Phil Stephenson in Orange, Michael Le Couteur for Molong, Elaine Cheney in Eugowra and Jan Harrison in Canowindra. The deliverables The deliverables for this project are: 1. Illustrated Thematic History of the heritage, geography and culture of food and wine in Orange and the region structured with short chapters, characterised by extended captions. This document. 2. Themes for satellite exhibitions See labeled spreadsheet. 3. Food map of places and sites. Please see the folder marked food map.