Cirrus@Austlit

'As the guest editor of the present issue of Coolabah (No. 5, 2011), entitled Food for Afterthought, I have had the honour and pleasure of dealing with a series of challenging essays derived from the congress Food for Thought, held from 1st to 5th February 2010 at the University of Barcelona. This event was organised by the Australian Studies Centre of the University of Barcelona, Spain, together with the Centre for Peace and Social Justice of the University of Southern Cross, Lismore, Australia, directed by Dr Susan Ballyn and Dr Baden Offord respectively. Their commitment and work front and backstage both in Barcelona as well as in Australia are responsible for the range and depth of this international conference. Indeed, Food for Thought forms part of a cycle of congresses on Australian Studies that started out commuting between Australia and Spain, but since 2008 have had Barcelona as their one and only venue, without losing their original international and interdisciplinary appeal and objective.' (Editorial introduction)