Taste for Travel

Taste for Travel: A sensational title which encapsulates the two things you love to do.  How long have you been blogging and what drew you to it initially

Food and travel are inseparable.  Taste for Travel was launched just over two years ago.  I've always been interested in journeys, as I've done a few of my own, but I'm even more fascinated by other people's journeys: what they discover and how travel changes them.

I love writing about my own backyard as much as I about other people's.  My first book "Asylum: Voices Behind the Razor Wire" told the stories of asylum seekers fleeing from persecution and torture and their journeys through Australian detention centres.

Blogging about travel and journeys on a less traumatic level than that was also a welcome antidote to my austere diet of editing disaster news in my day job.

How or what lead you to discover the delights of Orange Grove Markets

I was excited to discover Orange Grove Markets: my daughter used to work close by and she encouraged me to visit.

Orange Grove is a gorgeous yummy example of community connectedness, and a showcase for innovation and sustainable products.

When I lived in Greece, I would go to the weekly produce markets down the road to get my fresh fruit and veg, and have a gossip with the locals.  Markets are a meeting place and a vibrant experience for the whole family.

Children should be encouraged to taste and explore food sources and meet the people who make them.  Too many of their (children) food selections are pre-cooked or packaged in hype.  Markets are a tradition and a key to survival in many cultures, almost unchanged over the centuries, and have an even greater role to play today.

Some travellers go to museums, I go to markets.  As I said in the post on the market in Aix-en-Provence: "Supermarket food shopping is a disconnected task.  There's nothing communal about it except you're in a store with other people also pushing trolleys.  You have no interaction with the producers of the food you choose to buy".

We live in a concrete jungle, but visiting an open-air produce market reconnects us to the earth.  I find it holistic.

Your blog is a great mixture of not too many words so as to distract and just enough photos to entice.  Is it difficult to maintain this balance or is it as adage says "a picture is worth a thousand words", thus letting the photos do the "talking" as it were

Thanks for your observation.  The internet is awash with information and flooded with blogs and pictures. It's tough to get people's attention and hold it long enough to draw them back.

Attention spans can be very short now, and I try to keep the blogs succinct.  My rigorous journalist training is a handy tool.  Every word and every picture counts.

People want to discover places for themselves and shape their own experiences, not be told every detail in advance.  I hope I just provide enough information to entice.

What struck you most on your visit that prompted the blog initially

The almost carnival atmosphere at Orange Grove: the colour, tempting aromas, variety, value for money and chatting to the stallholders.  Each has a story to tell.  I only just scratched the surface

How would you sum your personal experience at Orange Grove Markets in 5 words

Community, innovation, delicious, fun, more-ish

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Wanna see what she wrote about?  Too easy! Simply click "here"

Massive thank you to Taste for Travel sharing some time, insight and most of all for sharing her love of our markets via her blog!  Honestly if you haven't already, you really should take the time to read what she writes....definitely makes you want to get out there and try EVERYTHING!

The Adventures of Miss Piggy

What is the history behind Miss Piggy and her insatiable need to blog all things food!

I first came across food blogs when a friend of mine started the blog "Street Food". Before that I had no idea what a blog was, let alone a food blog.  From reading "Street Food" I discovered more food blogs and I just loved the sense of adventure and community that surrounded them.

Food bloggers all seemed so social - always catching up with each other.  It seemed like a great way to meet new friends who also shared a love of food.  

I'd just moved back to Sydney from Outback NSW, I needed more friends and I wanted to explore Sydney's food scene once again.  Hence Miss Piggy was born.

Food blogging is a great way for me to share my experiences of cafes & restaurants - many of whom are in Western Sydney where I live.  

I also love being able to share information about ethical eating and hopefully educate some readers about how to make better/kinder choices when shopping for food: especially meat & eggs.

Part of this education process is raising awareness of alternatives to shopping at supermarkets....like farmers markets!

Who initially guided you to our markets?

I've always known about Orange Grove Markets as a friend of mine used to live just up the road and did (most of) her shopping there.  That was about 10 years ago before farmers markets really hit their stride in Sydney.

The Adventures of Miss Piggy Orange Grove Markets

My niece also used to live near Marrickville Markets and I visited them after hearing about them so much.

The Adventures of Miss Piggy Marrickville Markets

I do love the organic feel of Marrickville Markets: it feels like you're a million miles from Sydney when you're shopping there.

I found out about the other markets (eg: Rouse Hill) thanks to Twitter 

The Adventures of Miss Piggy Rouse Hill Markets

What is it about markets that appeals to Miss Piggy so much

Animal welfare in farming (and in general) is a passion of mine and I try to follow a path of ethical eating as much as I can!  I try to only eat free-range meat and eggs where possible - especially at home.

I loving shopping at local farmers markets for free-range meat and other produce as it gives me an opportunity to talk directly to the sellers (and often the farmers themselves) about their produce and how their animals were raised.  That's just not something that can be done when shopping in a supermarket.

Given your appeal and fame status within the world of all things food, what has been one of the best reactions from a stallie you have written about in your blog

I'm not sure that any of the stallholders actually read my blog, but they are always happy to have a chat when I mention that I want to write about their staff for my blog.

The stallholders are always happy to pose for a photo and I think the most eager to pose has been the young chappy who sold fudge with his Mum at Rouse Hill Markets. HE knows the value of social media that one!

What 5 words would you use to encourage those who have yet to discover the delights of Organic Food Markets to get out there and give it a go?

Farmers Markets will change your life!  GO!!!

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Miss Piggy we thank you and we MUST let you in on a secret: marketeers and stallies DO read your blogs as do we and we thank you for sharing a little bit of your blog time and allowing us to include some of your photos.

For those who have yet to read The Adventures of Miss Piggy do not delay!  

The Adventures of Miss Piggy

He Needs Food (at Orange Grove)

What or who drew you to Orange Grove Markets initially

A friend actually mentioned the markets to me quite some time ago, so I had been meaning to drop by for a visit.  I was in the area one day and saw some people carrying fresh produce and it was at that moment I remembered the markets were nearby.  That's when I had a look.

Your blog is fantastic (and we thank you for it!).  From start to finish, how long does it to (a) select a subject, (b) write it (c) select photos (d) publish

It really depends upon the type of post I do as to how long it takes for me to get it published.  Sometimes I make multiple visits to restaurants over several weeks to get enough photos.  

Selecting a subject is basically down to whether I feel it is something I want to have on my site.

Am I interested in it?  Does the food sound interesting enough?  Selecting photos isn't all that difficult as the good ones tend to stand out from the ordinary ones.  

I guess from start to finish, on an average post, it would take 2-3 hours.  I'm not a great writer, so I'm constantly re-editing my words.

Apart from eating and blogging, what other indulgences/interests does the man who needs food have?

Once upon a time I did quite a bit of drawing and painting, sometime before I discovered how much fun the camera is.  Now the paint brushes are stored away in my attic, just in case I get the urge again.  

I also love to travel.  Mainly overseas but exploring our own Australian backyard is good as well.

My partner and I head overseas pretty much every year to escape and see as much as we can.  I love Sydney, but I also love leaving it.

In your previous you were a chef.  Do you miss the creativity and intensity of the kitchen?

It's been many years since I was last tossing pans in a commercial kitchen. I don't miss it at all and admire those that keep slugging it out for a living.  The intensity is something I can live without, but the creativity is still kept alive thanks to my recipe categories on my site.

My creativity won't ever switch off providing I have fresh produce in my world.  I can experiment and create in my home kitchen (as anyone can), but I am willing to share it all on my site.

In 5 words how would you sum up Orange Grove Markets?

No frills neighbourhood market hotspot

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Our thanks to He Needs Food for sharing both his time, his love of our markets via his blog and his photos.

You can check out his blog which for us is a definite read:  www.heneedsfood.com