 Bush tucker in Alice Springs | |
| Country or region | Australia |
|---|---|
| Ethnic group | Indigenous Australians |
Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and historically eaten by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora, fauna, or fungi used for culinary or medicinal purposes, regardless of the continent or culture. Animal native foods include kangaroo, emu, witchetty grubs and crocodile, and plant foods include fruits such as quandong, kutjera, spices such as lemon myrtle and vegetables such as warrigal greens and various native yams.
Traditional Indigenous Australians' use of bushfoods has been severely affected by the colonisation of Australia in 1788 and subsequent settlement by non-Indigenous peoples. The introduction of non-native organisms, together with the loss of and destruction of traditional lands and habitats, has resulted in reduced access to native foods by Aboriginal people.
Since the 1970s, there has been recognition of the nutritional and gourmet value of native foods by non-Indigenous Australians, and the bushfood industry has grown enormously. Kangaroo meat has been available in supermarkets since the 1980s, and many other foods are sold in restaurants or packaged as gourmet foods, which has led to expansion of commercial cultivation of native food crops.