Find sustainable food in Noosa by following the red Slow Food Noosa Snail of Approval trail highlighting top places to eat and purchase. Top chefs will tell you that great food comes from great produce. While it’s not hard to find high-quality ingredients within the Noosa region, those with a Slow Food Noosa red Snail of Approval tick go the extra mile when it comes to sustainable food.
It is no surprise that Noosa, an area renowned for its environmental preservation and the internationally protected Noosa Biosphere Reserve, also places high importance on ethical and sustainable food production and consumption. What is surprising is how easy it is to eat consciously in the region.
Find sustainable Noosa food on the Snail of Approval trail
Over lunch at Noosa Boathouse overlooking a glorious stretch of the Noosa River and indulging in a seafood platter, I asked Slow Food Noosa Convivium Vice President Deb Caruso and Snail of Approval recipient, Chef Zeb Gilbert about how the Snail of Approval program works.
What’s a Convivium? According to the internet, it’s either a café in Jakarta, a convivial gathering, or a local group or chapter (The last option is the best match for Noosa Slow Food).
Photo above: Panko-crumbed red claw from local Alba Aqua Farm with finger limes at Snail of Approval recipient Kin Kin General Store. Photo: Kerry Heaney
Slow Food Noosa Convivium Vice President Deb Caruso and Snail of Approval recipient, Chef Zeb Gilbert
Slow Food Noosa Snail of Approval trail
Launched in 2017, the Snail of Approval logo recognises those who have a passion for food. The program covers chefs, cooks, Noosa restaurants, cafes, and retail outlets in and around the region.
The Slow Food Noosa Snail of Approval recipients also include farmers, food producers, and artisans who have demonstrated a philosophy of adopting earth-friendly practices. What are earth-friendly practices? It could be a reduction in the use of chemicals or the use of local or low food mile ingredients. For others, it is all about preserving vanishing animal breeds and plant varieties. That can include anything from using rosellas and finger limes to keeping old techniques and recipes.
Animal-friendly practices, supporting small producers, and striving to create food that is ‘Good, Clean and Fair’ also fall under the Snail of Approval program. More reasons to find sustainable Noosa food.
Look for the red snail when searching for sustainable Noosa food.
Slow, not fast food
Slow Food doesn’t mean that your order is taking a long time to come to the table.
This global, grassroots organisation was founded in 1986 by Carlo Petrini to promote the opposite to fast food. Its focus is to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the rise of fast life and work towards everyone having access to good, clean and fair food.
Strangely, we have McDonald’s to thank for the inspiration behind Slow Food. Their plans to open an outlet in the centre of Rome near the Spanish Steps horrified Carlo and sparked a peaceful demonstration. Slow Food now has spread worldwide now exists in 160 countries.
When you see a red snail, which is the symbol of the international Slow Food movement, you know the business has a Slow Food Snail of Approval stamp.
Beautiful local produce for sale at Kin Kin General Store. Photo: Kerry Heaney
Which Noosa restaurants have red snails?
Slow Food Noosa is the largest Slow Food convivium in Australia, and you find snails scattered throughout the region from Aromas and Café Le Monde in Hastings Street or Rickys at Quamby Place to Amamoor Lodge in the Mary Valley and Harry’s on Buderim.
Noosa favourites include Noosa Waterfront Restaurant, Noosa Boathouse, Embassy XO, View by Matt Golinski, and Dhom’s Kitchen. All have their red snails and offer sustainable food in Noosa. See the full Slow Food Noosa Snail of Approval recipients list for more places.
I had a chat with two Snail of Approval recipients on my Gympie to Noosa food trail.
Kin Kin General Store, Kin Kin
Kin Kin is a small country town renowned for its great food and scenery about 30 kilometres from Noosa. While you can buy some of the things you might expect at a local shop, the Kin Kin General Store is much more than just a retail outlet. Much of the produce and products used in the restaurant are sourced hyper-locally, some from the verdant veggie gardens at the back. The store uses solar power and harvests its own water.
Kin Kin is a small country town renowned for its great food and scenery about 30 kilometres from Noosa. While you can buy some of the things you might expect at a local shop, the Kin Kin General Store is much more than just a retail outlet where you can eat Noosa.
Dessert at Kin Kin General Store. Photo: Kerry Heaney
Sitting on the veranda here for breakfast, lunch or a weekend dinner is a local’s favourite and a worthy Snail of Approval recipient.
Pete and Traecy Hinner, Noosa Black Coffee. Photo: Kerry Heaney
Noosa Black Coffee
The only coffee grown in the Noosa region is another Snail of Approval recipient.
Noosa Black, a small family-owned and -run coffee estate, is located in the hinterland not far from Kin Kin General Store. You’ll also enjoy a Noosa Black brew at Sunshine Coast airport and buy beans at selected local IGA stores and Kin Kin General Store. The coffee also is available via mail order
Their 6000 tree arabica coffee plantation edges Kin Kin Creek and was planted by Pete and Traecy Hinner in 2005. The trees are resistant to disease, so there is no need for chemical pesticides.
Noosa Black harvests with a combination of mechanical and hand-picking up to six times each year, no later than October. The final harvest produces their unique silver medal award-winning Late Harvest roast.
SUP on the Noosa River. Photo: Kerry Heaney
Slow Food and the Noosa Biosphere
It’s all about a balance between people and nature in Noosa. As one of only two UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in Queensland (the other is the Great Sandy Biosphere Reserve which is an adjoining neighbour), this is a nurturing environment for native animals, plants, and cultural heritage. The Noosa Biosphere Reserve includes 87,000 hectares of land and many waterways within the Noosa local government boundaries. It also extends approximately three kilometres seawards.
Where can you buy Snail of Approval products?
It is easy to find these products when you eat local in Noosa. Look for them at Organika, Noosaville; Black Ant Gourmet, Kin Kin; Noosa Fish Providores, Pomona’s Little Pantry; Sunshine Coast Organic Meats, Forest Glen; Market Garden, Tewantin; and in Good Harvest Organic Farm boxes delivered to your door. Check the stockists list here. Here are some more tips so you can eat Noosa like a local and 10 things to do in Noosa while you are visiting.