They say food brings people together, and one Melbourne woman is working on just that as a way of denouncing racial violence in the city.
Mia Northrop has organised an event called Vindaloo Against Violence, which urges Melburnians to dine at their local Indian restaurant on February 24th as a way to show solidarity with the city's Indian community.
"The idea is simply for everyday people to come together to support their immigrant communities in a very Melbourne way: through great food," Ms Northrop writes on her website.
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"Let's signal to the Indian media and other international observers that everyday Australians do not accept racially motivated violence and racism."
The User Experience Consultant thought up the concept after returning home from living overseas.
'Horrifying' reports
She had seen the reports coming out of her home city and was 'horrified' at the idea of Australians being portrayed as racist thugs.
The 35-year old, who isn't of Indian heritage, set up the event shortly afterwards.
"The final straw came after reading The Age this weekend and seeing how some members of the Indian community were living in fear," Ms Northrop told SBS.
"I felt so helpless... what can we do?"
The initiative has already attracted a strong following, with a Facebook event going out to more than 1,600 people in just over 24 hours.
A twitter page on the event has also been created.
Twitter user indianfoodguide likened the non-violent approach as similar to that of Indian independence advocate Mahatma Gandhi.
Another user, TheToySociety, says the event should be held in other Australian cities.
"Just in Melbourne?" they write. "Can we do it in Sydney too?"
Ms Northrop denies she has any commercial reasons for putting on the event.
"I just thought the idea was really accessible for people who don't necessarily think of themselves as political," she says.
