BEFORE he became involved with a new Earth Hour initiative, Dubbo farmer Tom Tourle said he thought the event only involved turning off the lights for an hour.
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However, Mr Tourle said, taking part in the organisation's cookbook Planet to Plate made him realise it was more sophisticated.
The cookbook pairs recipes from famous chefs with stories from Australian farmers, highlighting the impact climate change is having on the production of food.
"It's all about encouraging people in the city to think about the food they're eating, where it comes from and how it could be affected by climate change," Mr Tourle said.
"It's about trying to start the conversation. It's not about education, they're all smart people, it's about making them aware of the ecological impacts."
For example, alongside Miguel Maestre's banoffee pie recipe, which uses bananas, is the story of Queensland banana farmer Steven Lizzio and the aftermath of Cyclone Larry in 2006.
Mr Tourle is a sixth generation sheep farmer. His family came to Australia in the 1840s and has been farming much of the same land since 1857.
"Because my family have been here for so long we've seen what it used to be like and we know what it can be like," he said.
Mr Tourle said while there had been a dry season at Dubbo, the city was lucky compared to farther west where there had been extreme drought.
He said just looking at images of the drought in the news did not provide a full understanding of the realities for city people.
Planet to Plate also features Ashley McMurtie from Cobar and 2014 Rural Woman of the Year Pip Job, who highlights the 'human factor' of climate change and the stress it causes in the community.
Earth Hour is at 8.30pm Saturday, March 28. The event encourages people from around the world to turn off their lights for 60 minutes to show their support for reducing carbon pollution.
