Editing Australian cuisine (section)

===Development of Australian cuisine===
[[File:Tea and damper.jpg|left|thumb|''Tea and damper'' – Alfred Martin Ebsworth (1883)]]
Following the [[Prehistory of Australia|pre-colonial period]], [[History of Australia (1788–1850)|European colonisers]] began arriving with the First Fleet at Sydney harbour in 1788.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://index.html/|title=1788 {{!}} Australia's migration history timeline {{!}} NSW Migration Heritage Centre|language=en-US|access-date=15 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505195009/http://index.html/|archive-date=5 May 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> The diet consisted of "bread, [[salted meat]] and tea with lashings of rum (initially from the [[West Indies]] but later made from the waste cane of the [[sugar industry]] in [[Queensland]])."<ref>R. Haden, Food Culture in the Pacific Islands, 2009, p. 46</ref> The British found familiar game in Australia including swan, goose, pigeon and fish, but the new settlers often had difficulty adjusting to the prospect of native fauna as a staple diet.<ref name="cultureandrecreation.gov.au"/>  Meat constituted a large proportion of the Australian diet during the colonial era and into the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://australianfoodtimeline.com.au/steak-and-eggs/#more-15093|title = Steak and eggs glorified in poem - Australian food history timeline|date = 16 September 1920}}</ref>

After initial difficulties, [[Agriculture in Australia|Australian agriculture]] became a major global producer and supplied fresh produce for the local market. Stock grazing (mostly sheep and cattle) is prevalent throughout the continent. Queensland and [[New South Wales]] became Australia's main beef cattle producers, while dairy cattle farming is found in the southern states, predominantly in Victoria. Wheat and other grain crops are spread fairly evenly throughout the mainland states. [[Sugar cane]] is also a major crop in Queensland and New South Wales. Fruit and vegetables are grown throughout Australia<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/farms/ |title=Australian farms and farming communities – australia.gov.au |publisher=Cultureandrecreation.gov.au |date=10 May 2011 |access-date=17 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408181402/http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/farms/ |archive-date=8 April 2011  }}</ref> and wheat is a main component of the Australian diet.<ref name="bulletin">{{cite journal |title=In 30 years, how might climate change affect what Australians eat and drink |journal=Bulletin of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society |date=2016 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=22–27 }}</ref> Today there are over 85,681 farm businesses in Australia, 99 percent of which are locally owned and operated.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nff.org.au/farm-facts.html|title=Farm Facts {{!}} National Farmers' Federation|last=Internet|first=Chirp|website=www.nff.org.au|language=en-GB|access-date=15 December 2018}}</ref>

Barbecued meat is almost synonymous with Australian cuisine, though it is estimated that more than 10% of Australians are now vegetarian.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tapsell|first1=L.|date=2007|title=Meat in the context of the whole diet: A social and cuisine perspective|journal=Nutrition & Dietetics|volume=64|pages=S108–S110|doi=10.1111/j.1747-0080.2007.00195.x|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Winsor |first1=B. |title=More than 10% of Australians are now vegetarian |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/life/health/article/2016/08/17/more-10-australians-are-now-vegetarian |website=sbs.com.au |publisher=SBS |access-date=6 December 2018 |archive-date=9 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509145657/https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/life/health/article/2016/08/17/more-10-australians-are-now-vegetarian |url-status=dead }}</ref>