|
 Politics
and Pasta
Why are these children falling asleep on Helen Cush's lap? It must have been the
length of John Anderson's speech at the opening of the new Bellata Gold flour
mill in Tamworth. It did go for a bit. Heading for retirement from his National
Party seat and the position of Deputy Prime Minister at the next elections he
took the opportunity to beat the drum for what good work he believed the
National Party had actually done for the country. One of which was his single
handed creation of the Regional Partnerships program that has supported projects
such as Bellata's. He obviously relished the ABC and local TV cameras and the
speech as I said went on a bit. On a lot actually. We
featured a story on
Bellata in our second Issue in the Harvest section (It was really just an
email from Penny Blatchford, one of Doug and Helen's three daughters giving the
background to their entry into the commercial artisan pasta business)
 The
shiny new mill is just outside the airport, in fact we could see it from
the departure lounge (where we sat with a mum and lots of kids waiting for the
Sydney plane, and realised as they mobbed their father when he arrived that it
was Barnaby Joyce's family.) The new mill, imported from
Italy, not only makes the highest quality semolina from the Cush's organic wheat
but is doing innovative work in using the parts of the flour that are left over,
usually discarded or blended back.
I was there with a Regional Food hat on, but also for the company I've been
working with, the National
Food Industry Strategy. That's the Project Officer Diane Heather and Russel
Rankin the General Manager of the Innovation team at NFIS Ltd. at left.
NFIS Ltd have given two FIG grants (Food Innovation Grants) to Bellata to help
with the production and packaging of their pasta.
It was a great day, and the family nature of the business was evident as was
their appreciation of the staff, all local people. There was even a tear in
Doug's eye at times an pride in his mother's. Well done
Bellata. Meanwhile, speaking of Innovation did you hear the
blast that Jonathan West from Tas. Uni's Innovation Research Centre gave on the
ABC Perspective last night?
It's here as transcript and MP3. Fred Harden
6 October 06 |
