Author Jill Griffiths describes her debut book, What’s For Dinner? as “an exploration of the food on the table and the farming that puts it there and what it all means for people who grow food and those who eat it”.

Australian Regional & Rural News reporter, Serena Kirby, spoke with Jill recently to learn more about her background, how the book came about and some of the fascinating things she discovered in the process.

ARR.News: You have a science degree as well as a journalism degree. It’s an interesting combination.  What led you to study these two very different fields?

Jill Griffiths: I’ve always loved books and I loved to write. When I was young I really did think that someday I’d become a writer but people told me writing wasn’t really a career and that writers don’t make any money. They were kind of right. People also said I was a smart kid and that I should study science – so that’s what I did.

After I finished my biology degree I travelled and did all sorts of things. I then thought about going back to Uni and doing honours and was looking at all the different science course options when I saw that Murdoch University had just opened up a post graduate diploma in journalism.  I realised then that I could combine my two interests which would mean I could talk to experts in various fields of science and then write about it. I could tell the story behind the science.

ARR.News: And where did your career take you after that?

Jill Griffiths: Well, I worked as a writer for the Environmental Protection Agency in the areas of environmental education and community awareness for a bit but after a while I realised I wasn’t really that good at turning up at an office every day of the week so I decided to go freelancing instead. I’ve worked as a freelance science-jouno for 30 years now and worked for all sorts of publications.

ARR.News: It’s always hard for first time authors to secure a book deal. How did your book deal come about?

Jill Griffiths: Originally I was trying to get another book published and I started pitching it around the place and didn’t get much interest. And then, because I worked in agriculture and environment for a long time I’d heard stuff from farmers and from researchers that didn’t really match up with what I was reading in the headlines.

I could see that there was a much more nuanced and deeper story here so I thought, ‘I’m  going to write a book about that’. So my idea was then that I’d pitch the book that I’d already written and also pitch this second idea too in the hope of proving to publishers that I’m not just a one hit wonder and that I’m here for the long haul.

I didn’t have an agent but one of my writing buddies had just landed a contract with Thames Hudson and she thought they’d really like my stuff as they were looking to build a list of narrative nonfiction works by Australian authors.

And you can guess what happened… They liked my work but instead of choosing the book I’d already finished they opted for the second book idea so then I had to go out and write it.

ARR.News: And what happened to the original book you’d pitched?

Jill Griffiths: It’s called Choosing a Place and, at the moment, it’s sort of in the consideration-stage with the publishers.

ARR.News: There’s a good amount of facts and stats in your book which must have pleased your science-brain, but were there any big surprises in what you learnt while researching the book?

Jill Griffiths: I had lots of preconceived notions, things that I thought I knew about, that were either inaccurate or wrong.  The first thing that surprised me was that 75 per cent of the world’s food comes from just 12 species of plants and five species of animal. It’s actually even more concentrated than that because within those species the range of varieties and breeds is limited and continues to diminish. Discovering that was a real aha moment.

But what I learnt about chickens totally turned me upside down and inside out. I’ve been a keeper of chooks for a long time and I thought that chickens were something I really understood but I never knew how important they are to the world’s food supply. Not only are chickens one of the top five animals in regards to food production but they’re the most important agricultural animal in terms of the amount they contribute to our food supply. Chickens make up 46 per cent of all meat eaten in Australia and that’s huge.

ARR.News: And using your own question of “What’s For Dinner?”, what’s your favourite thing to cook for dinner?

Jill Griffiths: Curry is definitely my go-to dish and I like to cook it from scratch with fresh ingredients as I prefer ‘real’ food that’s not heavily processed.

This interview is supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.
Related story: Review – What’s For Dinner?