As the major supermarket chains have gained market dominance, consumer choices have dropped within their stores. In many cases, one or two major brands and the 'house brand' dominate many sections, with smaller companies losing their shelf space and their sales, leading to their ultimate demise. There has also been a shift in the product range available away from cheaper products to more expensive products or brands that offer a larger profit margin.

Have you ever noticed how every supermarket has somewhere around a dozen checkouts but only two or three are ever open? I have also noticed a recent trend that I find disturbing as well and that is the increase in the size of the liquor sections, sometimes into warehouse sized retail outlets. (I'm not sure what that says about the supermarkets or the Australian consumers.)

I would like to endorse and encourage people to participate in a growing trend to counter the food supply dominance of the supermarket chains by growing as much food at home as they possibly can. Urban farming can increase our food security on every level, from the individual to the national. It's not difficult and there are many fine people who are already doing this and can help the beginer get started. I priced green beans at $15.00/kg today in my local supermarket. If I can't produce 25 -30 kg for around a third of that price, I will eat my gardening hat. (I also know for a fact that the commercial grower would be lucky to get 1/10th of the shelf price on those beans.)

This issue extends right through our natural resource and food production chains.

Dutch company Van Der Plas who own Seafood Tasmania and that super trawler will no doubt buy out other local commercial fishing licences to increase their quota.

Allowed to Monopolise markets by paying for our political parties election campaigns in exchange.

Farmers have always been price takers, but they had market options. Now they don't and the promotion is for those market options to become even less as the big market players decide the prices, the margins and the quantities. As for the consumer having power, well they don't really, not without market access to farmers or direct supply chains.

An example of direct supply is local butchers and bakers. We have a local baker in town, the quality of bread is fantastic and is baked fresh daily. Most local people buy their bread supplies from the bakery rather than the supermarket. But that one business can't compete on price paid to millers nor the price offered on bread transported from interstate weekly. Why? Because the baker can't break into the supply chain and purchase their ingredients because those chains are owned by the large players.

The major food chains are also being allowed to force out competition so that these new and old businesses can't keep or gain a foothold in the chain. This chain would normally have allowed better farmer compensation, but that has been gradually eroded over time, especially with households not wanting to pay more for food.

The Federal Government’s current national food plan""" Er, they don't have one - mutterings from Canberra appear in the media now and then, but there is no plan - Other than selling our prime rural land to foreign interests, who in turn have their own plans.

Whilst the editorial is a good read, the content tends to fail on many fronts. Even with small things like Kirin, the big Japanese brewery containing about 80% of our drinking milk market, when in reality its not Kiren at all - it's the Japanese giant, Mitsubishi, who wholly own Kirin

The real problem is about 80% of Australia's downstream food processing industries have now fallen into foreign hands, and week by week we are losing more. Indeed, do visit Dick Smith to see what he has to say about it. Food production and links in the food chain are global business buzzwords for the 21st century, yet don't think for one minute the dullards we have running the show in Canberra will be abreast of the times. Rather, our food capacity will be mined by others, and sold by others - Much like our so-called mining industry, of which we Australians own 17%, or less. Energy production and its providers are going the same way, so its not just food, it's more to do with the weekly costs of staying alive - Enter the multi nationals who want a share of the action - indeed, the essentials of life itself

As for our two big retailers who get a weekly pilgrimage from the majority of Australians - well yes, they certainly are an issue, but they are far from being the biggest issue. Perhaps study the playing field and it will soon be discovered we don't own much of our food chain nowadays and the big two have to deal with even bigger entities, consequently they are resorting to off-shoring for cheaper supplies to fill their own shelves. Do check the price of a Kg of anything in the USA compared to Australia and it will be found we no longer have cheap food - thanks to who owns/controls the pipeline - Kirin, for instance, who in fact were part of the milk wars initiative. They were charging nearly a $4 shelf price for 2 litres and the real profits were being soaked up by their processing plants, which in turn went back to (Mitsubishi)shareholders in Japan, whereas the retail duopoly have pushed to break this high priced nexus, yet the farm gate price for milk seems to be our primary topic of discussion - odd really, considering the obscene profits extant in the milk processing game - pre the milk wars. Yes the farmers are suffering badly, but they are a fragmented lot, unlike the monoliths they have to deal with. The reasons for all the price action are simple, the world will be running low on food in the decades to come, and given that Australia has an excess of production capacity its vital assets need to be secured to fill these worldly business needs. Enter the global price makers, enter foreign governments looking to secure future supplies of food for their own end users - Consequently, for quite some years now external interests have been buying Australia with their ears pinned back - to a degree where we don't own much these days. Borderless business, they call it. Nevertheless, the Canberra dullards speak of "food plans". Years behind the reality, one might suggest

A hint for further research - Look into the meaning of "Arab Spring" and its causes

Why is a 20 pack of Coke $5 in the USA - yet $16 in Australia (essential food groups, and all)

Another might be the "Big Mac" index - a proven path to real world assessments

It goes on, but Australia has a top down problem, and we just don't have the skilled country managers to deal with it