We’re preparing a publication about the Foodways series, and we are updating our documentation online to accompany that. We’ll use this post to archive the edited collection of fantastic, pithy, witty, insightful, and fun observations that folks in Melbourne shared with us during the Foodways project there. We’ll update with a full listing soon, but here are a few of our favorites.
Any food in a tourist area is pretty much crap–inauthentic and overpriced.
Australians believe in good food, good wine, and surfing.
Climate change makes me change my assumptions about the abundance of food.
Coffee is the ritual we all connect with. You can’t really say, let’s catch up for mineral water. It’s not a cozy thing.
Day eating culture is bigger than night.
Even in a dorm room, you’d have a toaster and a kettle.
Every night there’s a special on somewhere: Parma Night, Steak Night.
Everyone’s just happy because they’re having brunch.
Healthfood culture and junk food culture exist side by side here—donuts and burgers and also super-clean stuff—the same people.
I plan my day around where I will get my coffee.
In Melbourne, if a restaurant is not good, it doesn’t last.
Old school pubs are more kid friendly.
One of the most critical moments in my life is going to my daughter’s house and seeing on the table things that I had cooked for her as a child.
On days when I’m really missing mum I’ll cook her food.
To eat for free, attach a tin can to a long stick and wander through the alleys. If fruit is over the fence, you are allowed to take it.
We’re not big into chains. Starbucks failed here. Our coffee culture is quite bespoke.
Wine and food rules are not like in Europe. There’s lots of freedom of expression.
What does ‘modern Australian’ mean? It’s fusion.
When Spatula&Barcode were invited to participate in the Municipal show, we knew immediately that we wanted to create a project about responses to the election. The resulting project, “Rage Grief Comfort &” used simple foods to allow the public to express emotions and then asked the question, besides being angry and fearful, what else can we do. 
