'Global food centre': Launceston to host national food conference in July

The first symposium was held in 1984 and features a different theme each year and brings together gastronomic enthusiasts, local and international chefs, writers, winemakers, sommeliers and scholars to discuss and change how we think about food in Australia.

Launceston's event is aptly themed "Island", and delves into the challenges and opportunities an island such as Tasmania might face when it comes to feeding the population.

Chair of the symposium organising committee Andrew Pitt said the theme "perfectly encapsulates" Northern Tasmania's high quality produce.

"Visitors will be provided with multiple opportunities to sample local food and drink, meet with Tasmanian producers and experience Launceston's restaurants," Mr Pitt said.

Mr Pitt was a key member for Launceston to become a UNESCO City of Gastronomy in late 2021.

"We felt that that would formalise an identity [for the city] that the people here could be really proud of and that we would be able to project outwards as our as our identity and brand," Mr Pitt said.

"We are developing an identity revolving around food and beverage and this symposium will play a vital role in showcasing this ... to a captivated national audience."

Launceston born-and-bred and Harvest Market manager Rhys Hannan attended the previous SAG held in Bendigo 2022, and was successful in his pitch for Launceston to be the next host.

"For the symposium to go from one Creative City of Gastronomy in Bendigo to the other in Launceston was a really natural choice and a bit of a no brainer," Mr Hannan said.

The Launceston SAG committee began planning the event in early 2023 to "nail down some of the broad themes", and have had monthly meetings since, Mr Hannan said.

The symposium's thematic statement said Launceston "emanated as a global food centre".

"How are island gastronomies connected to, or threatened by, global economic, ecological and political forces that surround them?" the statement said.

"How are appetites shaped by the unique constraints and configurations that the island presents? Can islands feed themselves well, and sustainably, in the face of uncertainty?"

Mr Hannan said a keynote speaker from the event, Professor Emma Lee, "cast her Indigenous cultures eye" over the statement.

"[It was] to make sure we were correct in the way that we were speaking about the land that we were meeting on ... and the way that we were referencing the 40,000 plus years history of food culture in this region," Mr Hannan said.

"As one of our eating components of the symposium we're using abalone from Indigenous-managed fisheries," he said.

Mr Pitt said he hopes symposium will be a "step up" in cementing Launceston's identity as a worldwide gastronomical centre.

The 25^th SAG will be held July 5-8 and is hosted at the University of Tasmania Inveresk campus. For more information or tickets, visit their website.