Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox: Why We Need Women Like You

‘We need to change how we think about food. About what we purchase and how we consume food. We need to look at what we are eating. There are so many benefits of seasonal eating – for our bodies and for the planet. By doing this we can reduce food waste. We can increase economic and environmental benefits, and we can improve food security for all Australians.’

This isn’t from a newsletter at my local health food shop. Or from the website of a localisation movement. This is from the CWA. It’s CWA Awareness Week 7-13 September, and this is the core mission this year. To talk about food.

And why not? This hard-working organisation that kicked off in 1922 with a mission to improve health and support facilities for women and children living in remote and regional Australia knows a thing or two about food. They’re magicians who know how to turn a bumper crop of oranges into a tasty marmalade. Or onions into a pickle. Tomatoes into a relish. When resources are scant, nothing is wasted. There’s a modest frugality that sets hands and hearts to work, knitting booties for premie babies or hardy jumpers for busy toddlers. There’s a roll up your sleeves, make a meal, pick up a broom approach to helping. No one says, ‘if there’s anything I can do’ and backs away. They pass you a scone. Pour a cup of tea. I like that. It’s action. And it’s never an action looking for applause. It’s done quietly. I like that too.

When there’s a death in the community, an email goes out to members asking for cake. And the cake turns up. They know that grief is best managed with a delicious sponge or a banana cake. No one caters a wake like the CWA.

The CWA aren’t just cake bakers. They’re changemakers.

And I’ve been a card-carrying member for a few years now. There’s a reason I joined.

My mother was widowed at 26 with six-year-old me and my six-month-old baby brother to care for. It was tough going for a single mum in a tiny country town with no intergenerational wealth to fall back on and the trauma of domestic violence to recover from.

When I was in my early teens I was selected to play basketball for Queensland. The national games were in Perth. It was going to cost thousands of dollars. Training alone meant flying to North Queensland every weekend for months. I couldn’t go. I was heartbroken. My poor mother had no savings. And basketball was definitely not in the budget.

But then along came the CWA and my little girl dream was delivered on the back of a lamington. Lots and lots of lamingtons. They raised the money that put me on court (basketball court, not criminal court). I always felt guilty that I never went on to become a professional player. I’ve felt in some way that I needed to balance my karmic ledger, so I joined up.

I don’t knit. I don’t crochet. And I don’t sew. I was worried that I would be craft shamed. But that never happened. I joined Bangalow CWA as I knew they had a social issues committee and I knew at the very least I could contribute to that. I love being part of a grassroots organisation of women. I love the work they do. Quietly raising money with cake and crochet and then donating it to homeless shelters, or food pantries, or little girls with widowed mums and sporting dreams. The camaraderie, the community engagement, the social action. And the cake.

So are you CWA curious? I’d encourage you to join. How it goes forward, and the work it does is dependent on the membership. So maybe you’d like to join?

There’s a CWA near you: Bangalow, Brunswick Heads, Mullumbimby, Lismore, Ballina.

And don’t just pay the $50 and sit nervously in the shadows. Get involved!

Mandy Nolan’s Soapbox column has appeared in The Echo for almost 23 years. The personal and the political often meet here; she’s also been the Greens federal candidate since before the last two federal elections. The Echo’s coverage of political issues will remain as comprehensive and fair as it has ever been, outside this opinion column which, as always, contains Mandy’s personal opinions only.