{"id":14557,"date":"2014-02-02T15:53:57","date_gmt":"2014-02-02T04:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nofibs.com.au\/?p=14557"},"modified":"2019-04-14T00:01:29","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T14:01:29","slug":"spc-ardmona-isnt-just-factory-amyfeldtmann-memories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/spc-ardmona-isnt-just-factory-amyfeldtmann-memories\/","title":{"rendered":"#SPC Ardmona isn’t just a factory – @AmyFeldtmann memories"},"content":{"rendered":"[clear]\n
\"orchards\"

Orchard on New Dookie Road, on the drive to Shepparton, from Dookie (Photo: Amy Feldtmann 2012)<\/p><\/div>\n

By \u00a0<\/span>Amy Feldtmann<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>@AmyFeldtmann<\/a><\/p>\n

2nd February 2014<\/p>\n

Originally published at amyfeldtmann.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

I am a graduate of Dookie Primary School No. 1527, where there was a grand total of five students in my grade. All up, our school roll-call peaked at about 60 in my later years. The primary school was on a block so large that a city property developer would probably stack no less than 200 apartments on it.\u00a0Other than Pine Lodge Primary School, a few kilometers down the road, which actually had real bush as part of its playground, we must have had the highest square-metre-of-playground-per-child ratio in the state. Our little town, population 260, was (is) surrounded by gentle rolling hills and lots and lots of paddocks \u2013 some with crops, some with sheep. I have no shame in comparing the scenery to Tuscany.<\/p>\n

At school, we\u2019d sit cross-legged in our composite classes and read the \u2018City Kids\/Country Kids\u2019 book series (by Lorraine Wilson, with great titles like, \u2018We Swim in the Dam<\/a>\u2019 and \u2018I\u2019m Selling Sheep Manure<\/a>\u2019), and laughed (after initial shock) when we were told by our teacher, who once taught in Melbourne, that some city kids think milk comes out of a bottle at the supermarket. But we felt a bit sad for them too \u2013 missing out on knowing the full story. We knew it came from a cow, went to the dairy,\u00a0then<\/em>\u00a0a \u2018Ducat\u2019s\u2019 milk carton at the supermarket.<\/p>\n

We also knew exactly where tinned peaches, which we often ate with ice cream, came from. They came from the orchards we would see out the car window when travelling to Shepparton, 30 kilometres west, to go to the supermarket, dentist, Fairley\u2019s, or W.B. Hunter hardware. Dookie was where wheat came from, and Shepparton was where apricots, peaches, apples and pears came from. Wheat went to the silo and became bread; fruit went to SPC and got put into tins. Simple.\u00a0These lessons came early for kids in the area \u2014 and were a part of our childhood. Even the Dookie kinder\u2019 outdoor play-equipment featured a giant wooden fruit crate branded \u2018S.P.C.\u2019.<\/p>\n

If heading to London is a so-called \u2018rite of passage\u2019 for young Australians (I\u2019ve done it too), an excursion to \u2018the cannery\u2019 was a ritual for all Goulburn Valley kids. It was just referred to as \u2018the cannery\u2019 but we knew it was SPC, and that that stood for \u2018Shepparton Preserving Company\u2019. I\u2019m not exactly sure how old I was when I went on the excursion, but I\u2019m guessing I was about grade two, and we had to wear those funny protective hats that look like tissue shower caps, walk very carefully, and not touch anything. I remember the noise, the workers sorting the fruit, the tins racing around on lines like roller coasters, and most of all, I remember the smell. Stewing fruit \u2013 tonnes of it \u2013 is not a smell little kids naturally love. It is heavy, it is strong, and it doesn\u2019t smell like Maggie Beer\u2019s or Stephanie Alexander\u2019s kitchens would if they were stewing fruit. I\u2019m sure we screwed up our nose and said \u2018pewwww\u2019 and \u2018grooooosss\u2019 quietly, but not so loud as to be rude and embarrass our teacher. Being at the SPC factory was like going to a church \u2013 you had respect for it, you behaved, and you understood that even if your family didn\u2019t go there, it was an important place for many.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward a few years, to when I was a teenager on the rowdy \u2018Dookie bus\u2019 that travelled half an hour each way between Shepparton and the Dookie hills, dispatching a rabble of youngin\u2019s to the six (later, five; thanks Jeff) secondary schools. Every morning and afternoon, our bus would zip along New Dookie Road, past the same orchards we used to see out the car window when we were little. In Summer, the trees would be green and lush and we could see the fruit hanging and ripening. In Winter they would be bare like skeletons. And in Spring, they\u2019d be covered in blossoms like they were covered in popcorn, or cotton wool \u2014 a scene that would seriously challenge Japan\u2019s Cherry Blossom Festival. These were the orchards that grew fruit for SPC.<\/p>\n

\u2018We could be about to see what happens to a town when it loses its identity. Shepparton is SPC Ardmona\u2019 \u2013 Warwick Long, ABC Rural journalist, 30 January 2014 via Twitter.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After high school, I moved to Melbourne to study at university, and it is where I live now. In those uni days, some friends from high school would head back to Shepparton for the summer and \u2018do the cannery\u2019 \u2013 work shift-work during the peak time for the factory and earn some cash for the following year. I had family members and neighbours who did the same. It was an important part of the annual wage cycle for many.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, my uni days further in the past than seems real, and I only buy SPC (and Ardmona) tinned fruit, tomatoes, or baked beans from my city supermarkets. And I get angry when the cans are on a lower shelf than the imported, or store brands. I always take a moment to sideways-glare at the store-brand tins (it is a moment of utter nuttiness on my part, but it would be \u2018un-Goulburn Valleyian\u2019 not to). And if there is ever an opportunity to tell a friend\/colleague\/poor bystander what \u2018SPC initials stand for\u2019; I do. I have done this in Australia, and with Australians overseas\u00a0(I usually follow it with talk about where the saying \u2018that\u2019s a Furphy<\/a>\u2018 comes from; but that\u2019s another blog post).<\/em><\/p>\n

There is more to this week\u2019s\u00a0announcement by the Federal Government that they will not to provide much needed funds<\/a>\u00a0to SPC Ardmona than the threatened closure of a cannery (An announcement that, like a scene from the political television satire \u2018The Thick of It\u2019, Prime Minister Abbott so obviously and wickedly orchestrated to come out of the mouth of Minister for Industry Ian McFarlane in their joint press conference).<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t space here to properly write about the future for the transport companies and drivers who ship the fruit to the factories, and then the tins elsewhere; or the factory outlet that, contrary to what our Prime Minister would have the country believe this week, IS a major part of tourism for Shepparton and the region. A factory outlet that has people making detours after holidays on the Murray, or driving back from NSW, or visiting friends in the region, to pick up some good deals. Glamourous\u00a0MoNA<\/a>\u00a0it aint but you can\u2019t set yourself up for winter soup-making with a slab of dented tins of crushed tomatoes from a trip to Hobart, so let\u2019s call it a draw.<\/p>\n

I also haven\u2019t talked about the issue of dumped products, high Australian dollar, the already high unemployment in the region, or the limited opportunities available to the hundreds that could lose employment if SPC shuts. I haven\u2019t reiterated local Mayor Jenny Houlihan\u2019s point that the welfare payments to the potentially 3000 unemployed will outweigh the $25 million co-investment being asked for.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t discussed the politics of Shepparton being in the federal seat of Murray \u2013 one of the safest Coalition seats in the country (but bordering with Indi \u2013 sometimes ideas can be contagious<\/em>). I haven\u2019t shared my thoughts on the not-insignificant circumstances of the local federal member,\u00a0Dr Sharman Stone<\/a>, being a supporter of the PM\u2019s rival Malcolm Turnbull; and a person who chose to vote to overturn Tony Abbott\u2019s controversial RU486 abortion bill law. I\u2019ve not gotten on to Cadbury who, like SPC, is owned by a multinational, and got funding from the federal government, apparently on \u2018tourism grounds\u2019, but also located in an electorate held by the Independent Andrew Wilkie; a seat the government wants.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0I haven\u2019t shared my thoughts on the embarrassing comments from economist Judith Sloan that if SPC goes, the orchardists can just turn their land into dairy farms (because they all have a couple of million in their back pocket, and cows don\u2019t really need much room, right?); or the inference from Tony Abbott that SPC workers, averaging less than $50K p.a., are overpaid, thanks to what he calls an \u2018extraordinary agreement\u2019 and work conditions.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t explored the issue that SPC is more than just fruit and the futures of orchardists \u2014 it is bean growers, and tomato farmers too. Or the cultural significance of the orchards, connected to the rich migrant history of Shepparton. I haven\u2019t raised the \u2018white elephant in the room\u2019 that Australians have gotten better at eating fresh fruit, and don\u2019t eat everything tinned like our grandparents did, and how that hasn\u2019t helped SPC.\u00a0And I haven\u2019t confessed that while MP Bob Katter \u2013 BobKat \u2013 loses me with most of his policies he has always had me on side when it comes to the importance of Australia being self-sufficient with food we produce and eat.<\/p>\n

Here, I don\u2019t want to talk in detail about any of those issues. I just want to endorse Warwick Long\u2019s comment that SPC Ardmona is Shepparton. This isn\u2019t about a factory being at risk \u2013 it is a town at risk, and a community at risk. It is about pride, identity, and just one part of regional Australia feeling positive about its future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[clear] By \u00a0Amy Feldtmann\u00a0\u00a0@AmyFeldtmann 2nd February 2014 Originally published at amyfeldtmann.com I am a graduate of Dookie Primary School No. 1527, where there was a grand total of five students in my grade. All up, our school roll-call peaked at about 60 in my later years. The primary school was on a block so large […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3434,1614,1603,63,585,1163,72,75,1637],"tags":[2676,1605,1030,172,214,1277,242,1604,1595,470,738],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/orchards.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3t0mw-3MN","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14557"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}