Food in Australia

The presence of many different cultural groups settled in Australia has led to our cuisine becoming an exciting fusion of ingredients and flavours.

Students will engage with Food in Australia by investigating and tasting bush foods to discover how First Nations’ peoples’ diets began to evolve when first settlers farmed food on this land. 

• Learn traditional and contemporary methods of cooking and the uses of native bush foods by First Nations peoples.
• Learn how traditional bushfoods are incorporated into contemporary cuisine.
• Taste examples of ‘bush foods’.

• Appreciate the timeline of food in Australia from First Nations culture to First European Farm, then numerous cultural groups who have settled here, to the reintroduction of Indigenous ingredients to create ‘bush foods’
• Explore the different types of traditional foods eaten by First Nations peoples, the methods of collecting and processing
• Learn how First Nations people’s diet was influenced by location

Focus Syllabus Outcomes

Food Technology 

• Justifies food choices by analysing the factors that influence eating habits (FT5-7)
• Selects and employs appropriate techniques and equipment for a variety of food-specific purposes (FT5-10)
• Plans, prepares, presents and evaluates food solutions for specific purposes (FT5-11)
• Examines the relationship between food, technology and society (FT5-12)
• Evaluates the impact of activities related to food on the individual, society and the environment (FT5-13)

Aboriginal Studies

• Describes the factors that contribute to an Aboriginal person’s identity (AST5.1)
• Explains ways in which Aboriginal peoples maintain their identity (AST5.2)
• Describes the dynamic nature of Aboriginal cultures (AST5.3)
• Analyses the interaction of the wider Australian community with Aboriginal peoples and cultures (AST5.8)