Cafe operator slammed for serving kangaroo burgers
A café in Sydney has been criticised for serving a burger made from kangaroo meat, despite the fact the owner is Aboriginal.
Yidinji woman Nyoka Hrabinsky relocated from Cairns to Sydney to run the Lillipad Cafe in Glebe with her husband, Laszio.
The pair consulted with local elders to create a kangaroo meat patty seasoned with wattleseed, pepper leaf and salt bush. The meu item was created for Survival Day on January 26.
But she told the HuffPost Australia the last thing she expected was to face a barrage of criticism from an “opinionated group”.
“They came around and asked questions and were demanding answers as to why we were selling kangaroo meat,” Hrabinsky told HuffPost Australia.
“We were really busy in the cafe so I didn’t have that much time to talk to them. I said, ‘I’m sorry but this is not a vegan-only cafe, we’re promoting traditional foods and flavours’.
“I don’t understand why they’re just targeting us.”
Photos of the burger have been shared in on social media, with posts denouncing the café.
“Horrified that The Lillipad Cafe Sydney is proudly serving kangaroo burger. The animals served today are from commercial shooters and NOT from traditional farming,” one Instagram user wrote.
Another critic posted: “Even during the drought and fires, NSW government are [sic] still allowing the mass slaughter of this native animal which has been here millions of years.”
But the negative comments have made Hrabinsky “feel really ashamed”.
“Ashamed of who I am and my culture and where I come from. I felt judged.” she said.
Sheridan Randall, 5th February 2020
