Food for thought

Melbourne-based Singaporean-Australian artist, curator, dramaturg and facilitator Jamie Lewis led the event.

During the evening, Ms Lewis facilitated a conversation about agriculture, food and its future before guests enjoyed a cultural meal using locally sourced produce.

Ms Lewis said when she works with regional towns, she is thinking beyond just sharing a meal with guests.

“So much food is grown in this area, but a lot of my interest is in questioning the access (small towns) have to food,” she said.

“Food costs are so high or you have that one main small supermarket when all of the food is actually grown right here, so there’s that question of access and scarcity.

“Also the access to different types of food. I think living in Melbourne... you get to experience different cuisine at affordable prices, so when I think about smaller towns, I think about that gap.”

In previous years, Ms Lewis has also worked with members of Shepparton’s Culture Kitchen.

The culture kitchen addresses regional issues of health inequity and disadvantage through the lens of Shepparton’s multicultural community and food cultures.

All the food prepared at the event was made by Culture Kitchen member Shakilla Naveed with the help of Ms Lewis.

Mrs Naveed also shared a bit of her own journey in creating community through food and sharing recipes for everyday foods within her culture, which could benefit others health-wise.

The night's spread included chicken and vegetarian biryani, a yoghurt sauce, baklava and a selection of sweet treats.

Ms Lewis said she hopes the dinner is one guests would continue to think about long after it finished.

“My projects are very open, we sit and we eat and it’s very subtle,” she said.

“What I would really love is not so much tonight but two weeks later, (someone) who’s telling another person ‘Oh that flavour of that biryani’... or reflecting on their experience tonight.”