Joost Bakker headlines Destination Food

28th May 2021 | Eativity editors
Joost Bakker

Sustainable restaurateur, TEDx speaker, botanical artist and designer Joost Bakker will headline the 2021 Destination Food culinary tourism conference to be held in Bundaberg, Queensland, this August. Bakker will deliver a keynote presentation on the future of food that will explore his latest work. This includes the second phase of his Greenhouse by Joost future food system project in Melbourne’s Federation Square.

The project is a self-sustaining, closed-loop, two-bedroom home that shelters, feeds and provides energy for its inhabitants. It’s been called “a blueprint for the homes of the future”. The first residents of the Greenhouse are chefs Matt Stone and Jo Barrett, with the pair moving into the Greenhouse full-time in late 2020. The goal is to grow, harvest and cook food sourced exclusively from the building in quantities large enough to sustain two people for three months. Bakker will discuss the outcomes and lessons from this project. He will also share how future food tourism initiatives can benefit from this knowledge.

The Greenhouse designed by Joost Bakker
The Greenhouse features aquaponics, solar power, micro-farms, a charcoal tank and a rooftop garden.

A focus on the future

“Joost Bakker has been designing and operating carbon-neutral venues for decades,” says Destination Food founder and curator Holly Galbraith. “Long before it became fashionable. His thinking is totally future-focused. His creative ideas are exactly the kind of thing Australian food tourism operators need to learn from and embrace if we’re going to stay competitive with other top-tier food destinations.”

Bakker will join an illustrious line-up of food tourism experts, including Steve Rosa from Destination Southern Highlands, Anne Moroney of Australia Barossa Inc, acclaimed Barossa chef Mark McNamara, sustainable tourism expert Dr Najmeh Hassanli from Sydney’s University of Technology and Canadian culinary tourism strategist Eric Pateman.

In a bonus for conference delegates, Destination Food will host a Taste of Bundaberg farm tour and artisan lunch the day before the event. This educational tour will allow delegates to meet local food tourism operators and experience the destination’s produce.

Destination Food will take place on Monday, August 2. Click here for more info or to buy tickets. You can learn more about Joost Bakker’s other sustainable food projects here.