Report – (Zoom) virtual Meeting dated Tuesday 25 February 2025 (7.30am to 8.30am)
Reporter: Tom Callander
Chair: Neville Taylor
President: Rhys Williams
Guest speaker: Dr Elaine Pratley
Neville Taylor opened the meeting and proposed the toast to Rotary International, noting that we are now at the end of February, an extraordinary month for Rotary Peace activity.
President Rhys made the Acknowledgement of Country, welcomed our guest speaker and also noted the fantastic series of Rotary Peace speakers the Club has had this month including Kerry Hicks.
Guest speaker
Neville Taylor then introduced Dr Elaine Pratley to address the meeting on her topic Peace Kitchen – Food and Everyday Acts for Peace.
Elaine has been a practising lawyer in Australia and New Zealand, is a Rotary Peace Fellow, an Asian Peace Innovator and a Rotary Positive Peace Activator with a PhD in food and youth peace building. She is the founder of Peace Inc and Peace Kitchen in Australia. Peace Kitchen believes in the power of food to bring people together and foster mutual understanding about sometimes divisive topics. Elaine’s address this morning was by way of an interactive session, about putting peace theory into practice, showcasing how the language of food can serve as an effective tool for dialogue and self-reflection.
Elaine told the story of her father-in-law Frank who as a young 4 old in the then Malaya during World War II had been badly bitten by a vicious dog. A Japanese soldier approached him (Frank was fearful as the soldier was the enemy) but was surprised that the soldier picked him up, put him on a bike, took him to a clinic, opened his lunchbox and gave the small pieces of food left in it to to Frank. In that moment Frank realised that the soldier saw him as a human being who needed to be fed and was rocked by the soldier’s compassion. This stuck with him for all his life. That compassion through food giving had changed his view.
Elaine’s legal background included being a Crown prosecutor. She became concerned that prosecution did not solve the root issues of crime. Peace building was needed in all places. She put a single question for consideration: What are the food customs and rituals in family and community groups which have assisted to build peace and understanding in every day ways – what are our memories of past occasions?
This evoked a lively discussion and recollection by several of our members. Peter Duras recalled meeting an Israeli artist in New Delhi who specialised in making portraits on spoons and plates and who believed that to understand people you needed to have at least three meals with them. Neville John recollected that growing up as a boy with Sunday lunches involving extended family with a smorgasbord of different types of food developing a wide conversation noting that Rebecca’s family did similar things in the Philippines; this has passed down to their own family with wonderful conversations. Rhys Williams spoke about his mother’s Chinese and Portuguese background and the importance of food including Portuguese receipts in remembering old times good and bad. Kevin Love recollected negotiations between unions and farmers where in a last meeting their desire to partake of a humming bird cake and morning tea smoothed the path of diplomacy to achieve a result.
Elaine highlighted the value around food for providing powerful memories that touch you. She also noted Hilary Clinton’s observation that food is the highest form of diplomacy. Neville Taylor noted that sharing a meal is a sign that peace has been accepted and also observed that the memories of children and grandchildren and their conversations with parents and grandparents often hark back to cooking together.
Elaine then pivoted with a further question: What aspects made those stories so impressionable? The responses indicated the importance of food in human beings’ interactions with each other and the wonderful experiences which can come from our relationship with food. Food is high in terms of national identity. When we eat we realise that everyone gets hungry which leads us to share experiences. Elaine noted that food can also be a source of conflict, for example food production may conflict with environmental and sustainability concerns.
In responses to questions Elaine spoke about her desire to learn to love and help people and common humanity. Conflict is a part of life and we need to find ways to transform that. Food is one way.
Neville Taylor thanked our guest speaker.
Announcements
After member milestones, Neville called for announcements.
Tom Callander reminded members of the DV Safe Phones current call for old mobile phones in working order, to be brought along at next week’s in person meeting or contact Tom. We will run the project for the next few weeks.
Tom Callander also thanked members for responding to his emails last week and the announcements concerning checking Working with Children cards. Records are now almost up to date. There are some responses still to come.
Neville John passed on a Frank O’Brien reminder to bring pre-loved suitcases to the BBQ gathering next Sunday at Lorraine Meehan’s house at Mount Martha. Suitcases are to be in working order (check wheels and zips). They will aid and assist women who have fled domestic violence situations.
Neville also announced that last Sunday’s BBQ at Bunnings collected $1,200.00 ($3,300.00 for February) and Peter Duras said that additionally they conducted a further BBQ at Bunnings Port Melbourne last night for staff and were given two $100.00 Bunnings vouchers. Peter also stated that a large donation of children’s footwear had been received and if any member has any particular children’s charity that could use them send him an email.
Neville Taylor reminded members that Rotary Peace Fellowship applications are open until 15 May 2025. This is an opportunity to seek out a successful candidate. Look at the notice in the Bulletin.
President Rhys’s announcements concerned:
- The invitation to come to Lorraine Meehan’s house next Sunday for a social engagement over food.
- Advice from Marjorie Gerlinger that District 9800 wants to support sending a young Rotarian to the Rotary International Conference in Calgary Canada and do we have a nominee.
- An update on Board/SAG consideration of the outcome of the young members/newer members survey. The next action is to work through that in a more detailed way. The aim is to look not at immediate solutions but matters for the needs of newer members and older members over five years.
- The Board now proposes to have bi-monthly meetings rather than monthly meetings.
- The resignations of Alan Seale at the end of December and Justine Murphy after Conference. The Board has asked them to be honorary members of the Club.
President Rhys also ended with a story about a meeting last Saturday of the Vietnam Foundation and particularly about Tam and Tung, now both in their 70’s. Tung was Rhys’s student back in 1982. Tam’s husband was Ambassador to Australia when Vietnam fell and for safety had to stay in Australia. Tung got on a leaking boat with a one year old child. They were rescued by Thai military and came to Australia. Tam and Tung set up an Australia/Vietnam Women’s Association which has now developed from a grass roots association to one involving some $40,000,000.00. The meeting shared Vietnam food and western food and this led to great conversations particularly between North Vietnam and South Vietnam different recipes and food. After some 40 years the Association works now in Vietnam particularly in the North and is a great success story. He did note that the children of Vietnam refuges and migrants now regard their parents’ history as past history and that they are now in a different country with different goals.
