The Pacific Island Food Revolution Cook Book was launched in collaboration with the Asia Foundation with a simple realization that over the course of a generation, there had been a fundamental shift in the way Pacific people ate that contributed to Non-Communicable diseases and other fatal diseases.
Author and renowned Chef Robert Oliver was overwhelmed with the journey he has had in Fiji and in the Pacific and highlighted that processed foods and sugary drinks had displaced the beautiful market foods that he ate growing up in Fiji.
Oliver says the country is battling with NCD diseases and this is evident, with the number of NCD-related deaths in Fiji and the Pacific.
He says they need to move local cuisine back to that top position in people's lives and in people's minds and energize local food culture to combat diabetes in Fiji and the Pacific.
Oliver says he believes in traditional Pacific food and diets, and the link he sees between good health and Indigenous cuisine.
Furthermore, he adds that the idea was to create a local food movement anchored in a reality TV series so people can be proud of their identity and their food.
Oliver says Fiji to him is a recollection of all the memories from walking through Suva Market with his mother, weekends at Nukulau Island and it is the searing hot food at an Indian wedding, to Fijian lovo with Fiji’s simmering sensuous melting pot of the Pacific.
He says the Pacific is the garden of Eden with the divine concept of healthy grown foods with so many health benefits which are driven from farm-to-table if managed well.
Oliver stresses that the book launch is a major insight into Fiji and the Pacific's Solution in battling NCD’s.
He says the launching is not the pinnacle of his quest for Fiji and the Pacific because he wants the local cuisine to be restored in this modern era.
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