Back in August, a food safety scandal made headlines in China after authorities confirmed that samples of Napa cabbage grown in Hebei, the country's largest cabbage-producing region, had tested positive for traces of formaldehyde.

The issue came to light after a video went viral that showed cabbages being treated with a liquid before being transported long distances to market. 

Authorities later confirmed there had been illegal practices and launched investigations and nationwide market checks. Formaldehyde is strictly prohibited from being used to keep food fresh in China, but reports suggested it was being used to slow spoilage while the cabbages travelled long distances in warmer weather.

Thankfully, Australia does not import fresh cabbage from China, so that's not the concern here.

But the story got us thinking about something much bigger:

How much do we really know about what happens to our food before it reaches us?

Australia has strict biosecurity and food safety requirements for imported food, and imported food sold here must comply with Australian food standards.

But regulation isn't the same thing as connection.

Australia still imports fresh and processed foods from countries all over the world. Depending on the product, that can include fresh, frozen, canned, dried and preserved fruit and vegetables.

And the further food travels, the more complicated its story can become.

It may pass through growers, packing facilities, processors, exporters, freight companies, importers, distribution centres and retailers before eventually reaching your kitchen.

Which brings us to a question we think is worth asking.

Do You Know Who Grew Your Food?

Think about the last time you bought a bunch of fruit and vegetables from the supermarket.

Maybe you came home with broccoli, potatoes, apples, lettuce, garlic and a punnet of strawberries.

But did you come home knowing the name of a single person who grew them?

Our guess is… probably not.

And when you think about it, that's quite strange.

Food is one of the most important things we buy. We eat it every day and trust it to nourish ourselves and our families, yet many of us know remarkably little about the journey it took before reaching our kitchens.

You might know something was "Grown in Australia" or "Product of China". But who grew it? What was used on the crop? How was the soil managed? When was it harvested? How long has it been in storage?

Usually, we don't know.

And that's one of the biggest differences between simply buying food and knowing your farmer.

There’s Something Powerful About Knowing Your Farmer

This is one of the biggest reasons we believe so strongly in buying locally.

When we tell you your cauliflower came from Mt Whitestone Farms in Grantham, your sugar snap peas came from Beau-Vista Park Organic Farms in the Goomboorian Valley or your rhubarb was grown at Mt View Farm on Mt Tamborine, those aren't just nice stories.

That connection matters.

There’s accountability.

When there's a real person and a real farm behind your food, there's accountability for how it's grown and handled.

Instead of putting blind trust in a brand, retailer or complicated supply chain, you can build trust in the people actually producing your food.

And that trust develops over years.

You can actually ask questions.

Do you use any chemical sprays?

How was it grown?

When was it harvested?

How do you manage pests?

Why is the broccoli smaller this week?

Why haven't we seen tomatoes yet this season?

When you know the farmer, there is actually someone who can answer those questions. That's incredibly valuable.

You understand how your food is grown.

"Grown in Australia" is useful information, but Australia is a very big place and farms operate in very different ways.

Knowing the farmer takes you a step further.

You begin to understand how they look after their soil, how they manage pests, what they choose to spray—or not spray—and why they make certain decisions on the farm.

Instead of blindly buying your produce, you have a relationship with the source.

You become connected to the seasons again.

Supermarkets have conditioned us to expect access to everything all the time, but that's not really how farming works.

When you're connected to local farmers, you start seeing food through the seasons again.

You know why cauliflower is suddenly everywhere. Why the strawberries aren't quite ready yet. Why weeks of rain have wiped out a crop. Why something that cost $8 last month is suddenly $4 because the farm has it in abundance.

Food starts making sense again.

Your food can spend less time travelling.

Local doesn't automatically mean something was picked yesterday, but shorter supply chains can mean fewer kilometres, fewer distribution points and less time between farm and plate.

Instead of produce travelling internationally and passing through multiple stages of storage and distribution before reaching a supermarket, local food can have a much simpler journey.

Farm. Warehouse. Box. You.

And when you're buying fresh produce, that matters.

You know where your money is going.

Buying locally doesn't just connect you to the source of your food. It connects your dollar to it too.

When you choose food from a local farm, you're helping that farmer plant another crop, employ local people, invest in their soil and keep producing food for their community.

You can actually see the kind of food system your money is helping to create.

Food Shouldn't Be Anonymous

Perhaps this is what we've lost most in our modern food system.

Food has become a commodity.

We walk into a supermarket and expect rows of identical apples, perfectly shaped capsicums and the same vegetables week after week, without necessarily thinking about the people, weather, soil and seasons behind them.

But food doesn't begin on a supermarket shelf.

Someone planted it. Someone spent months looking after it. Someone worried when it didn't rain — and probably worried when it rained too much. Someone harvested it.

And someone depends on us choosing it so they can do the whole thing again next season.

When you know your farmer, you begin to see all of that again.

A cauliflower isn't just a cauliflower anymore. It came from a particular farm, grown by real people whose livelihood depends on producing good food.

Start Asking Where Your Food Comes From

We're not suggesting everything imported is bad, or that every local product is automatically better.

But perhaps we've become a little too comfortable not knowing.

So next time you're doing your weekly shop, ask where the produce was grown.

And when you have the opportunity to buy directly from a local farmer — or from someone who can actually tell you the name of the farm it came from — there's real value in choosing it.

Because the closer we get to the source of our food, the easier it becomes to ask questions, understand how it was produced and build trust in the people responsible for growing it.

Good food shouldn't be anonymous.

And we think knowing who grew your dinner is a pretty good place to start.

Want to start eating locally and always know where your food comes from? Start here.

References & Further Reading

ABC News — ‘Formaldehyde cabbage’ scandal sparks food safety concerns in China and beyond Read the ABC News article

Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry — Imported Food: Fruit and Vegetables Read the Australian Government guidance

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission — Country of Origin Food Labelling
Read the ACCC guidance