Our backyards are a free supermarket of bush tucker superfoods

The Australian backyard is a free supermarket of bush tucker superfoods Pointing out an array of edible fruits and berries in local bushland, Samantha Martin explains which bush foods are in season. "Just from where I'm standing, I can see sandpaper figs, peach berries, tamarind and a cocky apple tree," she said. "We are basically in a bush supermarket." A proud Jaru descendant of Western Australia's East Kimberley region, Ms Martin now calls Cairns in Far North Queensland home. Known as the Bush Tukka Woman, Ms Martin is proactive in promoting native Australian bush foods and sharing recipes on ways to cook them. "My mum was a basic bush cook and I grew up eating off the land,"she said. "We ate goanna on the hot coals and caught barramundi or bream in the local rivers and creeks." She wants to introduce bush food into people's kitchens and help them feel brave enough to use it by making simple switches. Her recipes suggest swapping out rosemary and thyme for lemon myrtle or using lemon aspen instead of lemons or limes. Ms Martin would also like to see people experiment with more game meats like kangaroo and crocodile, which she said were great in curries, stews, stir-fries and even tacos. "Celebrity chefs and cooking shows have also helped introduce native ingredients to people who have never heard of bush foods like Davidson plum or wattle seed," she said. "And we're starting to understand that a lot of our native plants are superfoods and are very high in medicinal properties." Ms Martin is now working with the Local Indigenous Food Enterprise Services (LIFES) in Far North Queensland to provide mentorship to Aboriginal communities wanting to grow their own native foods, create a business and provide for their communities. The president of LIFES, Mark Harbrow, said bush foods and bush medicines had existed for thousands of years and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had always been aware of the health, nutrition and medicinal benefits. "I think it's a positive thing that non-Indigenous people are becoming more aware of the benefits of foods we already have in Australia," he said. "They are now realising they have these foods in their backyard." Community initiative Keen to be part of the movement and provide an income from bush foods for their families and community are Henrietta Marrie, Tracy Gray and Roy Gray Junior. "We've all grown up with bush foods; we need to normalise it and not put it on a pedestal," Ms Marrie, a Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Elder from the Cairns and Yarrabah region, said. "We need to make bush foods a part of everyday food." Ms Marrie and her extended family are now growing three different varieties of yams and have just planted their first crop, using 380 seeds and the tuber from the yams as well. Ms Gray and Mr Gray Junior travelled to Nigeria earlier this year, where yams are a food staple, to learn all about propagating the root vegetable here, the life cycle of crops and how to build on what they already know as traditional owners of the land. Ms Marrie explained that yams were a major part of their diet and had sustained them over the years, often used as a substitute for potatoes. She said the starchy root vegetable could be used to make flour, was popular in soups and stews, and could even be used to make ice cream. "It's seasonal and we cook it, roast it, boil it and you can freeze it too,"Ms Marrie said. She is currently working with the University of Queensland to assess the nutritional value of the yam and is working on bringing the cultural and scientific elements together. She has also been working with the Cairns Convention Centre to help them design a seven-course meal using traditional bush foods, including the yam. "We need to maintain the connection between bush foods and the land and country it comes from," she said. Bringing people together Barbra Drummond, who runs her own Indigenous catering business in Far North Queensland, said bush foods did not just represent culture but brought people together. A Wagadagam and Wuthathi woman from Mabuiag Island in the Torres Strait, Ms Drummond says growing up, food was at the centre of every family gathering. "It was always more than just peeling and preparing meals," she said. "It was about celebration, the joys of flavours and the time you spend with family and friends." Ms Drummond would love to see bush foods bring people together. Ms Martin said people should not be afraid to cook with native bush tucker. "I would love to see everyone introduce bush tucker into their cooking and experience the beautiful flavours," she said.