Shopping with a conscience can be a real challenge.  There seem to be so many competing priorities.

I try to buy things that are produced as close to where I live as possible.  I look for things with no packaging or minimal packaging that is recyclable.  I support small businesses in my local town rather than multi-national corporations.  The coffee I buy is Fairtrade and the meat is grass-fed and poultry is free-range.

Rice is one product that has caused me much soul-searching.  I actually refuse to buy Australian rice because of the growing conditions it requires and the water used in the growing of this crop that we simply do not have available.  Instead I choose to buy imported, organic rice from the local Co-op.  This is sold from bulk bins so I take my own paper bags and there is no packaging waste.

However, everything changed today when I went into the Maple Street Co-op to buy more rice.  I noticed an extra bulk bin with Australian-grown, biodynamic brown rice.  It had an information sheet on the side about Rainfed Rice.  This rice is grown and milled on the farm near Casino, NSW.  I was so thrilled to discover this product that I changed my plan and bought a small quantity to try it out.

Previously, I have had a few unsuccessful attempts to cook brown rice so I was not overly confident.  My fears were unfounded as this rice was perfect and once we have finished the other rice we have in the pantry, I can see that this will be the only rice we eat in the future.

I am excited to have found a staple grain which is grown biodynamically without irrigation within 200km of where we live.  I can buy it without packaging from a local, independent retailer.  What more could I want?

Please click on the link in this post to read all about this product.  I have no affiliation  with the growing or retailing of Rainfed Rice.  I am just one very happy consumer.