100 Mile Dinner 23rd October 2009

First 100 Mile Dinner in the Blue Mountains

 100 Mile Dinner 23^rd October 2009 6.00 pm

On Friday 23rd October, there is a Dinner which will demonstrate the capability of a community to provide well for itself from within a radius of 100 miles. The 100 Mile Menu concept originated in Canada in 2005 and has now spreads across the planet with variations appearing to test or even extend the idea that we are able to provide for ourselves from our surrounding country side. In essence it relates to eating only food that is grown, produced and sold within the radius of 100 miles from our home. In Australia, we aim to move to a 100 Kilometre version in time.

In fact, the modern interpretation of eating locally links with other influences on our daily living like Peak Oil, Global Warming and in many regions, water shortages. There is now a strong focus on reducing transportation of foods and produce and hence the emissions that are created by trucks and other means of moving food from the source to the table - ingredients for the average American meal travel well over 1500 miles to reach your plate. This focus has, in turn, linked the 100 Mile challenge with other movements such as Slow Food, Transition Town and Cittaslow or Slow City, to name a few.

The Footbeat Festival 100 Mile Dinner is perhaps the first in this region and in being conducted unofficially in concert with other activities around NSW of a similar nature. The evening will commence with a �Welcome to Country� by local elders of the Darug and Gundungurra tribes. It is for about 150 guests, involving local producers, manufacturers, growers and businesses who are passionate about their product and the fact that local is fresher, can in many cases be organic and cost less in money terms as well as pollution and side effects.

Because the feeling on the 100 Mile Menu is building, several of the suppliers of ingredients for our dinner are eager to present their information and insights to the diners. So, the evening will not only taste good, be good for our region and planet, it will also enable others to feel good by finding their own way to hold their own such event or turn on to the diet on a longer term bases. The caterers are now providing a 100 Mile Menu to other clients as a marketing edge and spreading the word.

Volunteers are integral to this event and a number will be on hand to assist. Emphasising �local� and volunteering still further, the live entertainment following the dinner will be provided by an amateur players group called the well established Richmond Players from �just down the hill�.  Their musical offering is called �Those Were The Days� and is set in a country pub, with humour, song and dance, an after dinner treat.