Everyone’s favourite gardener and beloved host of Gardening Australia, Costa Georgiadis, spoke with The Greek Herald about his upcoming involvement with the Little Food Festival, as well as the deep connection between his Greek heritage and his passion for all things organic.
His enthusiasm for the environment is unmistakable — driven by a desire to help others reconnect with nature and to educate people of all ages about the importance of sustainability.
The Little Food Festival is a free community event offering children a lens into how food literacy can shape healthier habits across entire households. Georgiadis will host the festival alongside produce expert Thanh ‘Fruit Nerd’ Truong.
“For me, as adults, we have such an obligation and a duty to connect children to the importance of food,” Georgiadis explained.
He appreciates the festival’s role in helping children develop critical thinking skills when navigating the food supply system and understanding how everyday actions can lead to more sustainable and deliberate choices.
“The thing I love about the festival is, first of all, its title, that it is a festival for children and youth and it’s prescriptively designed to, not just pitch stories to them, but to include them and illustrate to them that they are the food story,” Georgiadis said.
“They’re the ones that are going to inherit the narrative of food going forward and even though it’s a big system and can seem overwhelming, children’s decisions will influence the future of the food system.
“This is a chance to say to kids ‘Hey, have a look at this!… You’re part of it every single day and not only just once a day but many many times’.”
Georgiadis values the opportunity to encourage children to reflect on the food they eat — where it comes from and how it is grown. The festival ultimately centres on “big picture thinking through everyday action,” and reinforces that decisions about food quality are made “every time we open our mouths.”
Georgiadis’ Greek heritage has a direct connection with his passion for sustainability and knowing the origins of food.
“Yiayia used to be more concerned about if I was going out what I was going to eat, not where I was going. That priority has stuck with me. It makes me realise that as villagers, their priority was food — quality of food,” he said.
“I suppose for me that connection to food through my Greek heritage is so strong because there was such a powerful priority and there still is. Food is the most powerful priority of the day and unfortunately our culture has gone so far down the road of convenience and fast food that we pay the price. Because food isn’t fast — it should be appreciated, enjoyed and understood. The story needs to be celebrated.”
Georgiadis’ upbringing has also shaped his appreciation for food as a shared, hands-on experience with family. “Making kourambiedes with yiayia, making tiropites, making a pastitsio or a spanakopita… these things take some time, but when you invest that time you get the returns,” he said.
He also voiced concern about the increasingly long ingredient lists and misleading marketing that can make products appear ‘healthy’.
“To be able to equip children with that razor sharp capacity to look through all the… deception and manipulation of facts… is really important,” he said.
“One of the most powerful things we can do for children is not just give them the facts but give the social science of how they fit into the story and how they can tell the story.”
For Georgiadis, the festival encapsulates this storytelling and empowers children and families to better understand the power their choices hold within the broader food system.
He emphasised the importance of family and community, and when asked where families hoping to embrace a more organic lifestyle should begin, his advice was simple: “Little steps. We can’t impose a massive change overnight, but we can start with the simplest of steps.”
He suggested separating food scraps and seeing them as a resource for a worm farm or compost bin, buying locally, growing produce at home, and learning to store and preserve food.
“Italians every year make their passata, Europeans make their sauerkraut, Asian people make their kimchi and fermented foods… [which] are good for your gut,” he said, highlighting the value of passing down traditional preservation skills.
At its core, Georgiadis believes these time-honoured practices will equip the next generation to live more sustainable lives. He said these skills “reserve your capacity to absorb the extremes and disturbances that come from being addicted to a system of convenience that tells us we can get everything we want. Until we can’t.”
The Little Food Festival will be held from April 15-16 in Melbourne at Federation Square. Find more details here: https://www.littlefoodfestival.com/
