Meet Dr Natasha Teakle, Summit speaker

Dr Natasha ‘Tash’ Teakle comes from a WA farming family and spent eight years as an agricultural researcher and lecturer at the Universities of Western Australia, Glasgow, Southern California and Sydney before being becoming the head of start-up accelerator AgriStart in 2016. Last year, she was appointed Chair of the Project Management Team for the exciting new Food Technology Facility at the multi-million-dollar Food Innovation Precinct Western Australia (FIPWA). At the For Food’s Sake Summit in February, you can hear Tash’s take on business strategy, commercialisation and innovation in primary industry and the important roles played by sustainability and new technology. Get your tickets here

FFS’s first PhD student graduates

QUT PhD student Lijun Lucy Summerhayes, whose research explored urban food policy in Australia, was awarded her doctorate in September, making her Future Food Systems’ first graduated PhD. Read more

Queensland’s largest Asian mushroom grower joins Future Food Systems

Since it was founded in 2005, Kenon Corporation has developed from a boutique operation into what the company claims is the most advanced exotic mushroom production system in Australia, growing and distributing high-value in-demand varieties including shiitake and oyster mushrooms. The firm is also eco-friendly, converting local sugarcane waste into a nutrient-rich growth medium to cut costs and emissions. We’re excited to welcome Kenon to the FFS consortium and will soon announce the company’s first research collaboration. Read more

VIDEO: Exploring the health benefits of globe artichokes

Dr Mark McHenry and his wife, Dr Julia Anwar McHenry grow specialty globe artichokes on Mt Lindesay Farm, near Denmark, WA. As partners in a four-year, Future Food Systems-backed project, they work with researchers at Murdoch University including ANPC scientist Dr Ruey Leng Loo and PhD student Andrew Tilley to quantify beneficial properties in globe artichokes, notably long-chain inulin – resistant fibre that promotes beneficial gut microbes. Watch as they explain the research here and join our For Food’s Sake Summit to hear more from Mark about the project.

What drives consumers to buy fresh produce? It’s not ‘one size fits all’

NSW Department of Primary Industries is teaming with researchers at Queensland University of Technology and farmers state-wide to find out what Australian consumers want in fresh produce, and how this impacts buying behaviour – data that can be used to target specific subgroups with personalised calls to action. Read more