Each Friday in October, Coleambally farmer Julie Bellato will take visitors onto farms throughout Coly and Darlington Point in a bid to showcase the region as the food bowl of the nation.

The tours are part of the Riverina’s foray into the Sydney Crave Food Festival, an annual celebration of gastronomy that will this year focus on Italian food.

“Irrigation farmers have had to deal with a lot of negative issues recently, so this is a fantastic opportunity to pass on our positive message of sustainable food production,” Mrs Bellato said.

“As farmers, we need to promote ourselves positively to the public as efficient water users that produce high-quality food.

“These types of events are a chance to showcase our food producing businesses to our city cousins and provide a connection back to the land and farmers.

“This helps the public understand why we need water to grow food.”

A host of other Riverina communities will also play a part in the Crave festival, many focusing on cooking, rather than the other end of the food chain.

Mrs Bellato has also slated a “Food Can Regatta” as part of the activities, suggesting it could be held in the dry lake bed of the proposed Coly Lake.

“The boats built from food cans could be carried and run as a race around the perimeter of the lake,” she said.

She said with October looming, this year’s event could be more of a “trial run”, with a “bigger and better” one to run next year.

A long lunch could also be held in the Point or Coly, she said, using solely local produce.

Fusion Riverina plans to hold a street festival on October 6 as part of the festival, while performers in the recent Coleambally Arts Council Music and Dance recital have expressed an interest in performing at the event.

A meeting will be held tomorrow from 7pm at the Coly Community Club to discuss ideas.

More more information call Julie Bellato on 69544 582 or Austin Evans on 0427 277 906.