The need for strategic food policy in Australia

Food is the most interconnected policy issue any government faces. In Australia, governing the food system cuts across many policy areas, including agriculture, fisheries, rural infrastructure, indigenous affairs, water, environment, drought, emergency management, animal welfare, waste, health, poverty, education, immigration, defence, industry, transport and cost of living.

Although we are endowed with plentiful natural resources, advanced markets and a highly skilled workforce, Australia’s food system faces a set of intersecting environmental, economic and structural challenges. The quality and the quantity of both our water and land resources is declining. Major barriers remain to urban food production, while much of the food value chain is concentrated among a few corporations, to the detriment of small businesses and farmers. Resilience and redundancy are not systemically built into the food supply chain, which is vulnerable to disruption. Poor nutrition and ultra-processed foods are driving major health issues. And the scope and quality of agricultural research, development and innovation has been declining for decades.

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