On Thursday 1st April, Year 12 Food Technology visited the Royal Easter Show, with Mrs Webster and Miss Brown. You could say that our class was very happy with this outcome and surprised that it wasn’t an April Fools joke!  We started the day at the Woolworths Pavilion which showed us all the different agricultural districts and farming practices that provide us with a lot of our food products. Next stop was a tour led by Woolworths staff that looked into environmentally sustainable practices currently employed to limit food wastage from paddock to plate. For example, “The Odd Bunch” campaign, whereby Woolworths sell imperfectly shaped food products, such as apples or carrots, that do not meet retail specifications at a lower retail price. We had the opportunity to try produce from both categories and were challenged to identify which was the perceived inferior product.

After the tour, we explored (and taste tested) some of the Easter Show’s new top 10 show foods including Biscoff Waffles on a stick, Pizza Burgers, Vegan/Gluten/Dairy-free Dole Whip and Milo Macarons. By talking to the vendors we were able to appreciate the food product development steps required in developing a new food product and also understand marketing strategies employed to advertise these products. We also visited the V2 stand and learnt about the emerging technologies involved in making more meat for the growing population without farming more animals. After watching the live cooking demonstration, we were able to try the new V2 plant based meatballs and look at the recipe development.

At one point, our class delved into the agricultural side of the Australian Food Industry as we completed the Animal Walk. We were able to see a variety of animals including the sheep which we had the opportunity to feed! I’m pretty sure Ms Webster can agree that our class are experts in this field! To end off the already captivating day, we were able to purchase showbags to fulfil the traditional visit to the Easter Show and learn so much about the Australian Food Industry.

Than you to our teachers and the College for this unique learning experience.

Mariam Elisha (Year 12 Food Technology)