Meet Darren Robertson:
AOAM 2025 Principal Ambassador
For Australian Organic Awareness Month 2025, we’re thrilled to introduce our Principal Ambassador, Darren Robertson.
Darren is a celebrated chef, co-owner of Three Blue Ducks and The Farm in Byron Bay, and a passionate advocate for farm-to-table dining. His cooking philosophy celebrates seasonal, ethically sourced produce, creating meals that are not only delicious but also nourishing and sustainable. Through his recipes and storytelling, Darren makes wholesome, conscious eating accessible to all Australians.
We sat down with Darren to talk about his views on organics, the changing attitudes of diners, and how he approaches food at home with his family.
Questions and answers
From your perspective as a chef, how have diners’ thoughts about organic food changed?
Over the past five or six years, I’ve seen a real shift in how diners think about food. People care much more about how it’s grown and where it comes from. There’s still a lot of confusing messages and misinformation out there, but I believe Australians genuinely want to make the right choices.
Organic is no longer for the privileged few — it’s for everyone. It’s not just for fine dining restaurants anymore; there’s now a real demand for casual dining that champions good, honest produce.
Can you share a story about an organic producer who’s inspired you?
Venetia, who farms a plot at The Farm in Byron, is a next-generation farmer who has always used organic principles. Watching her go through the process of achieving organic certification about a year ago gave me a whole new appreciation for the standard producers are held to. It’s rigorous and it’s costly, but for her, certification legitimised the way she’s always farmed. It really is the gold standard, and she was incredibly proud to achieve it.
You can follow Venetia’s journey here: Good Natured Gardening
What advice would you give Australian consumers when choosing organic at the supermarket?
I’d encourage people not to judge organic produce against the shiny, uniform fruit and veg you often see in stores. Nature is meant to be diverse — if you walk around a farm, not everything looks the same.
The slightly different-looking produce is often where the gold is, and it really comes down to how you treat it in the kitchen. That’s where organic produce shines. Always look for the certification mark, such as the Bud logo and number, to be sure the product is genuinely organic and free from chemicals and GMOs
How do you approach food at home with your kids?
We’re extremely lucky that most of the food we eat is grown by people we know, like Oliver’s Hens just down the road. But of course, that’s not all of the time. For us, it’s simply about focusing on food that is healthy, fresh, and nutritious.
Darren’s passion for organics and his commitment to making sustainable eating accessible and inspiring make him the perfect Principal Ambassador for AOAM 2025. His journey reminds us that organic food isn’t about perfection — it’s about making better choices for ourselves, our families, and the planet.
