Cultivating change

HER ORGANIC FARM IN BYRON BAY SUPPLIES TOP RESTAURANTS AND A-LIST CUSTOMERS, INCLUDING CHRIS HEMSWORTH, BUT CHEF PALISA ANDERSON’S PASSION LIES IN CREATING DELICIOUS, HEALTHY RECIPES THAT INSPIRE US TO DINE IN

- RACHEL SHARP

Palisa Anderson has no problem letting her kids practise with knives. “The only rule is: you use it, you clean it, then sit it on the bench [sharp side] up,” she says pan-faced, with her signature dry humour. “I know that goes against every home-safety rule, but hey, you’ve got to mollycoddle your kitchen.”

For the 38-year-old mother of Soraya, 11, and Arthur, nine—who, for the record, learned to slice and dice in her entrepreneurial mother’s Chat Thai restaurant empire from age five—there’s nothing more important than teaching children the value of healthy cooking with organic ingredients. “I started to question what I was eating from a very young age because I grew up around it and had such a deep connection to the ingredients. Back then, things like wild basil were hard to find. The only place my mother could source from was people’s backyards. Now it’s stacked in Woolies in lots of little plastic sleeves, but I’d still rather grab a giant organic bouquet from a farmer’s bucket.”

That’s exactly what she does today through her certified organic Boon Luck Farm, a picturesque 43-hectare property in Byron Bay’s hinterland that supplies top restaurants (including her family’s) with ingredients. Fellow Byron locals Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky are such fans that they invited her to be a sustainable eating expert on their fitness and lifestyle app, Centr. The Avengers actor has even been known to turn up to Boon Luck Farm after his morning surf to collect his family’s organic fare in person.