[All] Fwd: Australia and a National Food Policy

[Robert Milligan]

FYI
R

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "foodforethought.net" <editor at foodforethought.net>
> Date: March 21, 2010 11:49:03 AM GMT-04:00
> To: mill at continuum.org
> Subject: Australia and a National Food Policy
> Reply-To: editor at foodforethought.net
>
> Editor’s Note: Agriculture will face unprecedented shocks and  
> challenges in the coming decades. Population growth, climate change,  
> oil prices, land shortages and a loss of biodiversity are some of  
> the problems that many countries will have to cope with, including  
> Australia. This article from World New Australia discusses these  
> issues and then proposes a government intervention to help the  
> nation cope – a national food policy. Some leading experts explain  
> why a national food policy is needed and what food production might  
> look like in the future.
>
> Food shortage 'the next global challenge'
>
> 17 March 2010 | 19:09
>
>
> Climate change, rising fuel costs, water shortages: now experts are  
> warning Australia's food producers have a new crisis to consider:  
> Food Insecurity.
>
> When the FAO Cereal Price Index doubled in the year to April 2008,  
> food security became a global crisis, sparking riots in 30  
> countries, including many tottering on the brink of severe shortages  
> or widespread hunger.
>
> The World Bank estimates that food inflation during that period  
> pushed an additional 100 million people into deep poverty, on top of  
> a billion that were already scraping by on less than a dollar a day.
>
> The episode of ‘soaring food prices’ was followed by the most severe  
> global financial crisis and deepest economic recession witnessed in  
> the last 70 years.
>
> Despite the global economy relatively stabilising, international  
> food prices remain high by historical standards, the United Nations  
> warns, and a growing global population and climate change are making  
> the future of food look even more uncertain.
>
> Population growth
>
> The world's 6.5 billion population is expected to reach nine billion  
> by 2050.
>
> This, combined with growing consumption as poverty is alleviated,  
> will put huge pressure on food supplies, experts warn.
>
> Climate change
>
> Climate change is expected to worsen the problem, reducing rainfall  
> and affecting crop growth.
>
> Added to this, efforts to tackle climate change - by using biofuels  
> instead of fossil fuels - are taking more land away from food  
> production.
>
> Oil prices
>
> And there’s more reasons why some people living in developed  
> countries are worried food scarcity may one day affect them.
>
> Oil prices remain at historical high levels, the UN warned in its  
> “The State of Food and Agriculture 2009” report and as cities  
> expand, new agricultural land is becoming less available.
>
> Land shortage
>
> The panic of 2008 saw national interests dominating the response to  
> a crisis which required coordinated global action.
>
> Many countries resorted to stockpiling food and blocking exports in  
> order to keep down domestic prices.
>
> As a result, some major food importers, such as the Gulf States and  
> South Korea, have lost confidence in the market and are negotiating  
> the purchase of extensive farmland in developing countries in order  
> to secure food supplies.
>
> This disconcerting trend has been condemned as “neo-colonialism”.
>
> Loss of biodiversity
>
> The great advances in crop yields since the 1970s, described as the  
> “green revolution”, have to be weighed against their ecological  
> consequences.
>
> The FAO says that 75% of food biodiversity was lost in the 20th  
> century whilst 80% of the world’s dietary energy is now supplied by  
> just 12 industrial crops.
>
> The green revolution has also been responsible for significant soil  
> erosion, salinity and depletion of water resources.
>
> Calls for a national food policy
>
> In Australia, community organisations are calling for a national  
> food policy, saying the country will face food shortages unless  
> there's better planning to cope with the effects of climate change  
> and population growth.
>
> By 2050, Australia will be faced with feeding 36 million people.
>
> "If we increase our population and we don't protect our agricultural  
> land and think of ways to grow food to feed our growing population,  
> we will experience serious food shortages," the President of the  
> Sydney Food Fairness Alliance Lynne Saville told SBS.
>
> For the first time, Australia is now importing more fruit and  
> vegetables than it exports.
>
> Last year, $826 million worth of food came into the country while  
> $749 million worth went out.
> Most comes from New Zealand, but increasingly garlic, peas,  
> broccoli, cauliflower, beans and corn are being sourced from China.
>
> Sustainable agricultural expert at the University of Sydney Bill  
> Billotti has also been advocating for a food policy.
>
> "We don't currently have a national food policy in Australia and so  
> our approach is fragmented. We stick food in agriculture, we stick  
> food in health, we deal with food in environment but we're not  
> getting that across-discipline view, wholistic  view of food," he  
> told SBS.
>
> Rising food prices in recent years have made it more difficult for  
> Australians to access fresh food, which is often more expensive than  
> fast food alternatives.
>
> "There's absolutely no doubt that food, some food, is becoming more  
> expensive, some food is going to become more rare and some almost  
> extinct if we carry on the way we do," OzHarvest's Ronni Khan told  
> SBS.
>
> The Director of the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab Professor Chris  
> Ryan says we need to look for alternative and innovative approaches  
> to dealing with resource scarcity and environmental change.
>
> "Over the next few decades the way people obtain their food, water  
> and energy will undergo a major evolution," he said.
>
> “One pathway we can see is people no longer relying on industrial  
> production units hundreds or thousands of kilometres, or even  
> continents, away. Instead they will source a greater proportion of  
> essential resources, goods and services from within their  
> ‘neighbourhood’,” Professor Chris Ryan said.
>
> “This evolution means a significant switch in people’s role within  
> the economy and in their identity as citizens, moving from one of  
> passive consumption to a more active engagement in production and  
> exchange of economic and social capital,” he added.
>
> - - - - -
>
> WHO WE ARE: Foodforethought is an information service that  
> encourages dialogue and exploration of innovative trends in the  
> global food system. The service is managed by James Kuhns of MetroAg  
> Alliance for Urban Agriculture in collaboration with Wayne Roberts  
> of the Toronto Food Policy Council. To subscribe, please contact editor at foodforethought.net 
> .
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