The National Food Plan, launched on May 25, spelt out the government’s intentions for Australia’s food industry. Several advocacy groups and academics have highlighted the flawed assumptions in the plan…
The food Australia produces - including wheat - contributes to the diets of 60 million people.
Jim Champion
Peter Langridge, Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics and Simon Prasad, Office of the Chief Scientist
Food production in Australia is challenging. Why? Because our soils are largely ancient and infertile, and our climate is variable and frequently harsh. Many food producing regions are degraded through…
Christmas is a time of plenty - but to ensure we keep eating well in the future, it’s time to rethink the way we buy and produce food.
Barbeque image from www.shutterstock.com
As we gather to share a meal with friends and family this festive season, it is the ideal time to reflect on our relationship with food, including our dependence on those who grow it for us. Australians…
Australia is not starving, but we do have major food distribution issues (and diet-driven health problems).
N Sawyer/Flickr
Last week saw national and international media attention on events unfolding in Parliament House. But another function in that magnificent building was arguably of much greater long-term importance — the…
Market share: Two companies in Australia control more than half of the country’s bread and bakery business.
Flickr/looseends
The Federal Government’s current national food plan process is heavily dominated by business interests. It is built on flawed assumptions that the market can provide the solutions that our broken food…
It would be smarter to use perennial native grasses for cereal grains instead of relying on a handful of farming-intensive annual crops. Shown here is Curly Mitchell grass (Astrebla lappacea), common in northern Australia.
Ian Chivers
Any investment manager will tell an investor to spread risks, to have a diverse portfolio, to engage with many sectors of the local economy, to invest in other parts of the globe, to hedge your bets, a…
Time for real change: the Government’s new draft National Food Plan puts the interests of big business ahead of health, equity, and food security.
Flickr/mermaid99
The Federal Government released on Tuesday the green paper for Australia’s first-ever National Food Plan. According to Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig, this plan “will ensure Australia has a sustainable…
Managing Director, Triple Helix Consulting; Chief Executive Officer, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research; Professorial Fellow, ANU Fenner School for the Environment and Society, Australian National University