Feedback on Issue#1

We've received lots of compliments and some useful suggestions on our launch issue. We've also received lots of notes where people praise us and then want to tell us about their area or product, but that's ok too. Here are some of them. (Pardon us if we blush).

"Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association Chief Executive Officer Mr Greg Bradfield said that the publishers of the Regional Food Australia magazine should be congratulated on a professional publication that promotes agriculture in a positive way." > Media Release PDF

"So good to read your weblog review of Australian Regional Food Guide and our website. Thanks too for including the link. I am honoured to be named as the inspiration for such an attractive publication. I have been dipping into it ever since it arrived in the mail the other day, and it should prove to be very popular I am sure." Sally Hammond ARFG

"I received my first issue of subscription for 'Regional Food' on Friday. Congratulations of such a wonderful magazine!
We own and operate a Certified Australian Angus Stud in Yass (1 hr from Canberra) where we breed and grow these wonderful animals. We also have a small business where we direct deliver to householders, our vacuum packaged chilled Angus beef."
Liz Monk, Springmount Black Range Road, Yass NSW

 Soooo good to have a food magazine that doesn't think you have the attention span of a gnat! I love the focus on one area ... shall send my subscription (believe me I don't subscribe to many these days as they are just so much the same...it's wonderful to see something so well thought out and different.)

Congratulations to you all; I hope the magazine goes from strength to strength, it deserves to.  Warm wishes, Belinda Jeffery

Congratulations on your first magazine. People in Food SA are impressed with it. This group is part of the Department for Primary Industries and Resources which is tasked with assisting SA food producers in many different ways, including development and promotion of products. Bill Power. Acting Manager Communications Food SA

Recently I was given a copy of the delightful magazine which features so much on King Island. One of my staff comes from there and her parents have a successful beef property. Another lavender grower has a small acreage there while her husband has one of the largest properties on the island. I was over there last year, talking to the Garden Club.
We make Lavender chutney, marmalade, blueberry jam, prunes and port, mustard, biscuits, cheese cake, tea, fruit cake, ice-cream and also sell lavender chocolates, lollies, lemon slices, bread, almond and pistachio bread - all made with our own Lavandula angustifolia 'Egerton Blue'. We also have 56 recipes in (our new) cookbook. Rosemary Holmes, Yuulong Lavender Estate. www.ballarat.com/yuulong 
 

Congratulations on your new publication it's simply wonderful. Pictures and text are really good and story angles are very refreshing. Well done and may you be in business for a long time. Bronwyn Ridgway
(journalist assisting Hunter River Country Tourism) www.hunterrivercountry.com.au 

What a great concept for a magazine! We are most impressed and wish you well with the publication.
Flinders Island Tourism Ass would like to let you know about our wonderful archipelago of islands- The Furneaux Group- in Eastern Bass Strait. www.flindersislandtourism.com.au
Lois Ireland President Flinders Island Tourism Association Inc.

With a growing obsession for all food regional - I buy every magazine out I think - including dish (as mentioned on your BLOG). So I was thrilled to stumble across (up the back of the Newsagency) in Moree (NW NSW) your new magazine.

My Mum & Dad - Helen & Doug Cush have created Bellata Gold (BG). Bellata Gold is the only pasta in the world that has complete traceability from the "country gate to the pasta plate" (Mum's slogan). All aspects from the seed to packet is HACCP accredited. We can guarantee that our product is 100% Australian Durum Wheat (we only use the top grade and we don't blend) and stored under a chemical free environment. We have 2 websites www.bellatagold.com.au and www.bellatagold.co.uk - we export to the UK as well.
Penny Blatchford, Bellata Gold

Greetings all. I discovered Regional Food recently when staying with my daughter who lives near Bungendore. We were at the wood gallery waiting for coffee when I was captivated by their copy. We noted the Bungendore connection and I immediately went across the road to purchase my copy from the newsagent. I am definitely NOT a glossy magazine buyer, but things that have encouraged me to take out a subscription are:

1. Honest reporting - we visited King Is about 10 years ago and it would appear that nothing much has changed unless those "bargain purchases" at the Cheese Factory are a reality.
2. Inclusion of history
3. Short articles-- easy to read while in the kitchen waiting for a pot to boil or whatever
4. Quarterly -- I don't allow myself much reading time

I believe that Regional Food, if it stays basic, has the potential to
1. inspire food producers  2. help 'townies' to understand and value 'farmers'.

Thanks for a great first issue -- don't change!  I will fill in the survey, but felt a personal response was warranted-- I have never been so enthused by a magazine in my 60+ years. Best wishes to the team, Nat Schmaal

Love the magazine, looks fabulous and informative, congratulations.
Janet Jeffs. Director and Executive Chef. The Ginger Room. Old Parliament House www.gingercatering.com.au
 

The article in the Winter issue of Regional Food Australia is very interesting and it is great to see walnuts being promoted and acknowledged as a healthy, tasty nut, after years of being associated with something you bought at Christmas, which usually tasted dry and bitter and, consequently, stayed in the shell until the end of summer, when the shells were cracked and the nuts fed to the chooks or baked in loaves for donation to the school fund-raising or local charity drive. Merryn Gilham. Webster Fresh - Walnut Division
www.websterltd.com.au