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Frontiers of Taste

Food Sovereignty, Sustainability and Indigenous–Settler Relations In Australia

  • Examines Indigenous-settler relations through the lens of food for the first time

  • Explores Indigenous experiences of colonization from a sociological perspective

  • Establishes the exchange of food knowledge as a useful point of departure for inquiry-based and experiential learning in schools and universities

  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
  2. Food Security and the Colonial Impact

    • Zane Ma Rhea
    Pages 1-21
  3. Food and Food Knowledge

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 23-23
    2. Endogenous Edible Foods at First Contact

      • Zane Ma Rhea
      Pages 41-69
    3. Bringing Exogenous Foods to Australia

      • Zane Ma Rhea
      Pages 71-89
  4. Food Across the Colonial Frontier

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 91-91
    2. Surviving the Emergency Food Context

      • Zane Ma Rhea
      Pages 93-113
    3. Provisions, Seed Collectors, and New Foods

      • Zane Ma Rhea
      Pages 115-135
    4. French Explorations and Le Gastronomie

      • Zane Ma Rhea
      Pages 137-153
    5. Explorers and Food Beyond Settlements

      • Zane Ma Rhea
      Pages 155-178
  5. Food and the Making of Modern Australian Cuisine

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 179-179

About this book

This book provides a critical, multiperspective, sociohistorical analysis of the role of food in postcolonial Indigenous, British and French settler relations. Drawing on archival resources from Australian explorers, settlers and nation builders, the book argues that contemporary issues of food security, sovereignty and sustainability have been significantly shaped by the colonial impact on human foodways. The author goes on to enhance readers’ understanding of how contact between inhabitants and newcomers was shaped and informed by food, and how these engagements established a modus vivendi that carries through to the present day. 


Based on the assessment of archival records, it uses a comparative, socio-historical lens to investigate contact between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people where the exchange of food or knowledge about food took place. It finds that the transfer of food and food knowledge was multifaceted, and the flow of food knowledge occurred in both directions, although these exchanges were neither symmetrical nor balanced. It also analyzes and discusses food as a focal point of activity. The final chapter offers an assessment of the potential for the development of a sustainable, nutritious, tasty Australian cuisine that moves beyond the tropes and stereotypical narratives embedded into colonial Indigenous-settler relations in the context of food. If this was accepted by all Australians, it would allow opportunities to be created for Indigenous Australians to develop food products for the market that are sustainable, economically viable and developed in ways that are culturally appropriate.


Authors and Affiliations

  • Faculty of Education, Monash University Faculty of Education, Victoria, Australia

    Zane Ma Rhea

About the author

Dr Ma Rhea has been involved in various social justice ‘food movements’ over the past 30 years beginning with her involvement with Indigenous Australian communities and other communities living in poverty. She was involved in a food cooperative in Bath in the early 1980s and then went to Spain and ran a vegetarian restaurant in Rhonda, Andalucía, Spain.

Returning to Australia, she then undertook her PhD studies in Thailand, learning about food sustainability in the Asian context while living there. She now works at Monash University and teaches across Indigenous Education, Leadership, and Sustainability programs, undertaking research in Indigenous Education, Indigenous-Settler Studies, Food Studies, and Organisational Development. This book is an outcome of an 8 year ARC-funded research project.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Frontiers of Taste

  • Book Subtitle: Food Sovereignty, Sustainability and Indigenous–Settler Relations In Australia

  • Authors: Zane Ma Rhea

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1630-1

  • Publisher: Springer Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2017

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-10-1629-5Published: 09 August 2016

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-10-9406-4Published: 12 June 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-10-1630-1Published: 28 July 2016

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 208

  • Number of Illustrations: 16 b/w illustrations, 17 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Sociology of Culture, Cultural Studies, Cultural Anthropology, Social Anthropology, Australasian History

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access