Co - President's Notes Tom Atkinson & Murray McKay
Dear Rotarians and Friends,
As we approach the final quarter of the Rotary year, it has been pleasing to see some longer term projects make traction.
After Co-president Tom visited Moora last week, we are close to finalising funding requirements for the Wheatbelt Speech and Hearing Project. Tom met with the Shire CEO and observed a near completed hearing booth in the centre of town, followed by dinner with the Moora Rotary Club. Local Rotary members were very supportive of the project and have committed to a strong financial contribution, as well as ongoing stewardship of the project. With funding secured, we are close to submitting the grant application, with a view toward approval prior to the end of FY.
Applecross Rotary members Graeme, Logan and Margaret presented to Y11&12 students at All Saints' College this morning in support of Rotary Youth Exchange and other Rotary youth programs. Securing a partnership with the school has been a long term project and we are very pleased to have finally presented to students. Thank you All Saints' College Principal Belinda Provis, Director of Senior School Jeanette Seale and Y11-13 Coordinator Stacey Fairhead for this opportunity.
Following a desire for more public image opportunities, Tom also had the opportunity to attend a filming session with Curtin University Media Students on Saturday, who are completing a project on Applecross Rotary as part of their studies. The project will look to produce a 5 minute video highlighting the club's projects, members and beneficiaries which can then be segmented for individual promotions. The students will be meeting with some club members and partners in coming weeks, and also looking to attend the Cruising Butterflies on April 13 as an example of Rotarians in action!
Yours in Rotary,
Co-Presidents Murray and Tom
Congratulations President-Elect Margaret!
Current Membership Director Margaret Brede is set to become our third woman President from next July. Melodie Kevan became the first in 2010-11 and was followed by Lesley Combes in 2015-16.
Our recent guest speaker, John Foss, is a real live entrepreneur, like Elon Musk, but NOT Elon Musk. He’s a former wheatbelt farmer from Ardath (near Bruce Rock) who won a Nuffield Scholarship that took him to Britain in 2001, about the time a Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak prevented any farm visits, especially by a young Aussie farmer going farm to farm.
However what interested John was crops he could grow that would help Australians fend off nutritional diseases like obesity, and support the dietary needs of diabetics. John cares for people.
So no farm visits meant he had lots of time to talk to international specialists and researchers. One of them told him about a small village near the US border in Mexico which reported almost no type 2 diabetes, while the nearby villages reported high level of obesity, diabetes and various other metabolic ailments. The obvious difference involved a crop John had never heard about before, Chia. The ‘healthy’ village grew and consumed Chia, while the others didn’t, but had a variety of cheap fast food outlets supplemented with copious consumption of sugar loaded drinks.
John’s interest was piqued and so he was allowed to alter his plans to follow through on visits to Mexico and Guatemala (which borders Mexico’s southern border).
What he heard and saw made him determined to grow Chia in Australia, quite possibly for the first time. The Ord Valley in the Kimberley was chosen as it was the same latitude (south) as the latitude (north) where the seed was grown in Central America. BUT (that’s a big but) John needed to sketch out a supply chain, and a plan to get the Chia to the consumers, who would recognise its potential benefits, and buy it.
John’s plan evolved into launching Fancy Plants in 2017
John managed to bring Chia seeds into Australia on his seventh attempt, the previous six shipments were confiscated and destroyed by overzealous AQIS inspectors. If he hadn’t persisted, the crop might have never been grown in Australia. So there was no local research data, and no guidance about Chia being grown in the Ord Valley, including whether the crop might be attractive to the pests that had destroyed many other dreams about cropping in the Kimberley.
John’s business activities have grown since winning the Nuffield Scholarship in 2000. He has offices in Perth, Melbourne and New York City, and a research farm at York that contracts work from agronomic businesses. John has brought his family back to live in Perth so his children can go to school here. His original company, The Chia Co, has been joined by Living Farm, Augment Agriculture, NACRA (Northen Australia Crop Research Alliance), and Fancy Plants, home of the delicious puddings John brought with him to our meeting. If you missed the presentation you can watch it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/E9wUQPFGVY0
Thanks John.
Why the fuss about Chia seeds
Yep, those little black dots are chia seeds - no wonder AQIS got excited!
Chia seeds come in two colours, black and white. That’s about the only difference. The nutritional benefits are the same, rich in fibre, high in protein, calcium, iron, copper, manganese and phosphorus, and importantly, omega-3 fatty acid. The plants are a member of the mint family native to Guatemala and Mexico, the seeds are very small, and have the ability to absorb up to 13 times their weight in water in 15-90 minutes, becoming a gel-like substance that can be used as egg replacement in baking, a thickening agent, and to make puddings. Adding them raw to your breakfast cereal, will result in you feeling “full” for hours. Current cost at Woolies is $15/kg and is also available in small packets of 350gm for $6.80.
The combined Applecross / Melville Rotary Clubs will be hosting the annual Art Show from 8th to 15th June. The event is held in the display area of the Westfield Garden City Shopping Centre in front of Woolworths.
This event provides a wonderful platform to promote our local artists.
We normally have around 450 paintings on display and in so doing promote about 150 artists.
The setting up, the manning of the display – and finally the dismantling, consumes considerable time and effort. Consequently your support would be appreciated and it’s the old saying “….many hands……”.
Applecross Rotary's responsibility is for the setting up, the manning of the display and finally dismantling on the Sunday afternoon. Also manning the display on the Monday ,Wednesday, Friday and the Sunday morning, with Melville Rotary responsible for the alternate days.
A blank roster will be circulated at the end of the month. Roster stints include a range of options ie: morning / afternoon and evening in 3 hour time slots. This way the roster caters for everyone.
The purpose of this note is to ask you to diarise a day /days and then once the roster is out you can indicate what times best suit.
In closing – as this is our 50th year so can you give some thought as to how best we can advertise this achievement.
Rene Breuer from Frankland Olives will explain why Australia is now one of the top exporters of olive oil in the world - after Greece, Italy and Spain. Is it our mediterranean climate? Rene is bringing some samples with him but to get them you have to be there when he is speaking!
After Co-president Tom visited Moora last week, we are close to finalising funding requirements for the Wheatbelt Speech and Hearing Project. Tom met with the Shire CEO and observed a near completed hearing booth in the centre of town, followed by dinner with the Moora Rotary Club. Local Rotary members were very supportive of the project and have committed to a strong financial contribution, as well as ongoing stewardship of the project. With funding secured, we are close to submitting the grant application, with a view toward approval prior to the end of FY.
Our recent guest speaker, John Foss, is a real live entrepreneur, like Elon Musk, but NOT Elon Musk. He’s a former wheatbelt farmer from Ardath (near Bruce Rock) who won a Nuffield Scholarship that took him to Britain in 2001, about the time a Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak prevented any farm visits, especially by a young Aussie farmer going farm to farm.
