Sydney residents were given a first-hand look at where their meat comes from this Australia Day with sheep and cattle gracing the lawns of Hickson Road Reserve in the shadow of Sydney Harbour Bridge.
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Two stud bulls, 12 sheep, and six Border Collie working dogs were on display as meat subscription service Our Cow's David and Bianca Tarrant donated 100 kilograms of beef, lamb and pork sausages for the Great Aussie BBQ.
Proceeds from the barbecue were being donated to Rural Aid.
Bianca Tarrant, co-founder of Our Cow said they put on the event to help raise awareness
"We've partnered today with Rural Aid as part of the Harbour Fest celebrations to really bring some of the country life to the big city," she said.
"We've got cattle, sheep and working dogs and we've brought down a handful of our farmers that supply produce to Our Cow to come down for the day and just really show people in the city what we do on the land to produce food, and to connect with the people that are eating our food.
"We also want to tell them that there are other avenues in which they can support farmers and they can buy direct.
"With everything that's going on at the moment, it is important to be supporting farmers and putting farmers first."
CEO of Rural Aid John Warlters appreciated the support from Our Cow, said there was still lots of work to do and the money raised would help the organisation help farmers.
"Recovery takes a whole lot of time, and it's not one pace," he said.
"It's not like a disaster happens, whether it's a flood, fire or a drought, and the next day people are back on their feet and fully operational.
"We know it takes time. So from a Rural Aid perspective, money helps our counselors, it allows them to do the work that they do.
"It allows us to continue to provide that financial assistance and a whole range of other support.
"So the need is always there and it's always real. That ongoing generosity is really important to allow Rural Aid to do what it does day in, day out."
Mr Warlters said the event was an important one for Rural Aid.
"We absolutely love this opportunity because it's a chance to connect city and country," he said.
"We know that our farmers are so important to us as a nation. They produce the food and fiber that allows us to do all those great things.
"But the city people, I feel, have maybe become a little bit disconnected and a little bit unaware of where their food does come from.
"So if we can help bring that story back together through an event like this, and also in the process raise the awareness of what Rural Aid does to support our farming families, then I think we've achieved a couple of really important goals."
The display cattle for the event were supplied by Eungella Shorthorns, Dorrigo, with Stephen and Michelle Thomas bringing their three children Hugh, Chloe and Abby to the city for the first time.
"Our Cow has been tremendous to us. We've been with them since the start of the operation and it's changed our business," Mr Thomas said.
"We know what we're going to get in the way of price and it's taken the fluctuations out of the market.
"You plan a bit better knowing that you're getting that price.
"We know how many animals each month we've got to supply and it's allowed us to put more money back into the genetics side to get what we want on a grass fed article."
Mr Thomas said the work Rural Aid does is very important.
"Rural Aid's is crucial to farmers, not only the work they do, but getting the message of rural Australia out to the public.
"They are a voice there all the time telling people what's really happening to our farmers."
Casino Wiltipoll producer Peter Brown supplied the sheep for the event as well as taking along six Border Collie working dogs.
He said it was important to support Our Cow.
"What these guys are doing with paying extra for the products that they're getting, they're actually paying us for what we produce which is important to us," he said.
"It's definitely a lot better than going to other places where you can sell cattle or sheep or whatever and you get what you get.
"I know this is a set price and I know what I can budget to work to this.
"So it's important to support them in what they're doing, because they're supporting us."
