Overview
Australian farmers are currently doing it rough. Really rough. Some areas of the country have been struggling with a years-long drought, and, this morning, the NSW Government announced that 100 percent of the state is currently in drought. While the government has pledged more than $1 billion in drought relief, there's still a lot to be done. And you can help.
Early this week a 'Parma for a Farmer' campaign launched, encouraging pubs across the country to donate dollars from every parmigianas sold to charities helping drought-affected communities. Spearheaded by Amanda Kinross, the campaign — and the Parma for a Farmer Facebook group — quickly garnered the support of pubs and hotel groups, including the Australian Hotels Association. Whether or not you agree it should be parma (or, really, parmi), it's a great and tasty campaign to get behind.
A slew of pubs have already committed to the cause, including hospitality group Australian Venue Co. For all of August, many of the group's pubs are donating $1 from every parma bought to the Buy A Bale initiative. The initiative, part of the charity Rural Aid, provides essentials — such as, yes, hay, as well as water, diesel and hampers — to farmers doing it rough.
Australian Venue Co. has pubs located across the country, including Surry Hills' The Forresters and Petersham's The Oxford Tavern in NSW; Prahran's College Law and Richmond's Prince Alfred Hotel in Vic; and Brisbane's Fridays. You can see the group's full list of participating venues here.
For the full list of venues participating in NSW, Vic and Qld, head to the Parma for a Farmer Facebook page.
Image: Giulia Morlando