Our food choices are being influenced every day. On social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, food and eating consistently appear on lists of trending topics.

Yet food influencing is not a new trend.

Australia’s first food influencer appeared in the pages of Australia’s most popular women’s magazine nearly 70 years ago.

Australians were involved in competitive cookery long before MasterChef.

The earliest of Australia’s cooking competitions were at agricultural shows. In 1910, the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW hosted its first competition for “perishable foods” at the Royal Easter Show.

Along with pastry and pickles, competitors could also be judged on their calf’s foot jelly.

Over the past few weeks, Australians have become used to seeing empty shelves in their local supermarkets. Coronavirus-induced panic buying has quickly depleted stocks of products like pasta, rice and flour.

​Looking at Australia’s most widely read women’s magazine, the Australian Women’s Weekly, shows us how Australians have dealt with food shortages in the past: with creativity, ingenuity and good humour.

OzWords is the newsletter of the Australian National Dictionary Centre, a joint venture between the Australian National University and Oxford University Press