CHRONICLE COLUMN | HOLIDAY FOOD | 12 DECEMBER 2022
Food has always played a big part in my holiday celebrations. As a child I remember, we celebrated Christmas eve filled with assorted seafood, salads, and grandma’s apple pie and Christmas pudding. And we celebrated Christmas Day with ham, chicken, a goose or two, and many more delicacies. Cliché?
Holiday Food Grown locally
We live in one of the best foodie destinations in the country. A plethora of choices for your holiday celebrations of fruit and vegetables, meat, and protein, dairy and eggs, herbs and other specialty products, olives, and oils, preserves and honey, baked goods, nuts and chocolates, and beverages and wine.
A mighty list of home-grown delights to meet anyone’s food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life and holiday feast. Securing this amazing list of local produce in the long term to guarantee we have physical, social, and economic access for future generations, is for another day.
This enormous diversity and range of food opportunity is available at local shops, a range of markets including the fabulous and must go to, Toowoomba Farmer Markets, farm gates, online and in some cases can even be home delivered. This holiday season for every celebration you have, I urge you all to source your local produce straight from local suppliers in our own backyard.
It is so important to buy locally this holiday season. Because you know, buying food locally, means it is fresher when you buy it from your local market, it helps the local economy, it is better for the environment, you get to know your produce’s story, and it supports your friends, family, and neighbours.
You can find the array of local produce by grabbing a copy of the Toowoomba Chamber’s Food and Agri Network Local Produce Directory to help fill your holiday season food baskets and tables.
Alternatively, going out for some good grub this holiday season? Jump onto Dine Darling Downs powered by the Toowoomba Chamber to see the many options available to you. Opportunities galore to rejoice in the regions dining cuisine and food production. It is through this platform that locals and visitors can find the best place to eat, drink, stay or play in our region. You can also seek out real authentic foodie experiences and can meet the winemakers, farmers, butchers, and chefs.
Whatever foodie choice you make this holiday season, by choosing local first, you are putting Toowoomba first.
