IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v5y2015i2p286-312d50257.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Finding Ways to Improve Australia’s Food Security Situation

Author

Listed:
  • Quentin Farmar-Bowers

    (The Grange, East Malvern, Victoria 3145, Australia)

Abstract

Although Australia exports more than half of its agricultural production, there are food security problems as the current food supply systems in Australia fail to deliver healthy diets to all Australians and fail to protect the natural resources on which they depend. In addition, the food systems create “collateral damage” to the natural environment including biodiversity loss. In coming decades, Australia’s food supply systems will be increasingly challenged by resource price inflation and falling yields due to climate change. Government and business are aiming to increase production and agricultural exports. This will increase pressure on agricultural resources and exacerbate “collateral” damage to the environment. The Australian public has an ongoing interest in issues associated with the food systems including the environment, education, health and sustainability. A health-giving diet is essential for a full life and over a life-time people need food security. Currently economy development and social planning is undertaken through the pragmatic application of a set of ideas, such as relying on markets and deregulation, collectively referred to as neoliberalism. This paper contends that the neoliberal approach is not solving the current and developing problems in food security and agriculture more generally and suggests that more emphasis should be given to alternatives approaches. Seven alternatives approaches are suggested that could be used to identify gaps and guide the creation of overarching goals in economic development and social planning to improve food security and secure the other material goods and social arrangements that all Australians require to live full lives. However, changing large systems such as those involved in food supply is difficult because vested interests in the existing arrangements make the current systems resilient to change. There are a range of leverage points that have differing abilities to change systems. The paper points out that goals and information flows are good leverage points and suggests establishing overarching goals for the systems relevant to food and restructuring the flow of information about these systems will help reform the food supply systems in Australia.

Suggested Citation

  • Quentin Farmar-Bowers, 2015. "Finding Ways to Improve Australia’s Food Security Situation," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-27, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:5:y:2015:i:2:p:286-312:d:50257
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/5/2/286/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/5/2/286/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    2. Garnaut,Ross, 2011. "The Garnaut Review 2011," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107691681, January.
    3. Michael Chappell & Liliana LaValle, 2011. "Food security and biodiversity: can we have both? An agroecological analysis," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 28(1), pages 3-26, February.
    4. Holland, Jonathan E. & Luck, Gary W. & Max Finlayson, C., 2015. "Threats to food production and water quality in the Murray–Darling Basin of Australia," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 55-70.
    5. J�rôme Pelenc & Minkieba Kevin Lompo & J�rôme Ballet & Jean-Luc Dubois, 2013. "Sustainable Human Development and the Capability Approach: Integrating Environment, Responsibility and Collective Agency," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 77-94, February.
    6. Bradley J. Cardinale & J. Emmett Duffy & Andrew Gonzalez & David U. Hooper & Charles Perrings & Patrick Venail & Anita Narwani & Georgina M. Mace & David Tilman & David A. Wardle & Ann P. Kinzig & Gre, 2012. "Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity," Nature, Nature, vol. 486(7401), pages 59-67, June.
    7. Hamawand, Ihsan & Yusaf, Talal & Hamawand, Sara G., 2013. "Coal seam gas and associated water: A review paper," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 550-560.
    8. Meyer, Samantha B. & Coveney, John & Henderson, Julie & Ward, Paul R. & Taylor, Anne W., 2012. "Reconnecting Australian consumers and producers: Identifying problems of distrust," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 634-640.
    9. Ejaz Qureshi, M. & Hanjra, Munir A. & Ward, John, 2013. "Impact of water scarcity in Australia on global food security in an era of climate change," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 136-145.
    10. Francisco Menezes, 2001. "Food Sovereignty: A vital requirement for food security in the context of globalization," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 44(4), pages 29-33, December.
    11. David Tilman & Kenneth G. Cassman & Pamela A. Matson & Rosamond Naylor & Stephen Polasky, 2002. "Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices," Nature, Nature, vol. 418(6898), pages 671-677, August.
    12. Amartya Sen, 2013. "The Ends and Means of Sustainability," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 6-20, February.
    13. Don Gunasekera & David Newth & John Finnigan, 2011. "Reconciling the Competing Demands in the Human‐Earth System: Ensuring Food Security," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 30(3), pages 296-306, September.
    14. Kingwell, Ross S., 2006. "Climate change in Australia: agricultural impacts and adaptation," Australasian Agribusiness Review, University of Melbourne, Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, vol. 14.
    15. Martha Nussbaum, 2011. "Capabilities, Entitlements, Rights: Supplementation and Critique," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 23-37.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bradley Ridoutt & Danielle Baird & Kathryn Bastiaans & Ross Darnell & Gilly Hendrie & Malcolm Riley & Peerasak Sanguansri & Julie Syrette & Manny Noakes & Brian Keating, 2017. "Australia’s nutritional food balance: situation, outlook and policy implications," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(2), pages 211-226, April.
    2. Seona Candy & Graham Turner & Kirsten Larsen & Kate Wingrove & Julia Steenkamp & Sharon Friel & Mark Lawrence, 2019. "Modelling the Food Availability and Environmental Impacts of a Shift Towards Consumption of Healthy Dietary Patterns in Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-27, December.
    3. Marius Mihai Micu & Toma Adrian Dinu & Gina Fintineru & Valentina Constanta Tudor & Elena Stoian & Eduard Alexandru Dumitru & Paula Stoicea & Adina Iorga, 2022. "Climate Change—Between “Myth and Truth” in Romanian Farmers’ Perception," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-21, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paul L. G. Vlek & Asia Khamzina & Hossein Azadi & Anik Bhaduri & Luna Bharati & Ademola Braimoh & Christopher Martius & Terry Sunderland & Fatemeh Taheri, 2017. "Trade-Offs in Multi-Purpose Land Use under Land Degradation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-19, November.
    2. Pedro A. B. Lima & Gessica M. K. Jesus & Camila R. Ortiz & Fernanda C. O. Frascareli & Fernando B. Souza & Enzo B. Mariano, 2021. "Sustainable Development as Freedom: Trends and Opportunities for the Circular Economy in the Human Development Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-26, December.
    3. Smith, Helen F. & Sullivan, Caroline A., 2014. "Ecosystem services within agricultural landscapes—Farmers' perceptions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 72-80.
    4. Calum Brown & Dave Murray-Rust & Jasper van Vliet & Shah Jamal Alam & Peter H Verburg & Mark D Rounsevell, 2014. "Experiments in Globalisation, Food Security and Land Use Decision Making," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-24, December.
    5. Alberto Manelli, 2014. "New Paradigms for a Sustainable Well-Being," RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA', FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(2), pages 11-30.
    6. John Holmberg & Johan Larsson, 2018. "A Sustainability Lighthouse—Supporting Transition Leadership and Conversations on Desirable Futures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-25, October.
    7. Gerbens-Leenes, P. W. & Moll, H. C. & Schoot Uiterkamp, A. J. M., 2003. "Design and development of a measuring method for environmental sustainability in food production systems," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 231-248, September.
    8. Shepherd, Philippa M. & Dissart, Jean-Christophe, 2022. "Reframing vulnerability and resilience to climate change through the lens of capability generation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    9. Valencia Torres, Angélica & Tiwari, Chetan & Atkinson, Samuel F., 2021. "Progress in ecosystem services research: A guide for scholars and practitioners," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    10. Antonia Katharina Ruckli & Sabine Dippel & Nora Durec & Monika Gebska & Jonathan Guy & Juliane Helmerichs & Christine Leeb & Herman Vermeer & Stefan Hörtenhuber, 2021. "Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Pig Farms in Selected European Countries: Combining LCA and Key Performance Indicators for Biodiversity Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-19, October.
    11. Sabrina Neugebauer & Silvia Forin & Matthias Finkbeiner, 2016. "From Life Cycle Costing to Economic Life Cycle Assessment—Introducing an Economic Impact Pathway," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-23, April.
    12. Rita Vasconcellos Oliveira, 2021. "Social Innovation for a Just Sustainable Development: Integrating the Wellbeing of Future People," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-12, August.
    13. Michael Benson & Chad Boda & Runa R. Das & Leslie King & Chad Park, 2022. "Sustainable Development and Canada’s Transitioning Energy Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-19, February.
    14. Jhoner Perdomo & Mauricio Phélan Casanova & Sary Levy-Carciente, 2021. "Sustainable Wellbeing Operationalization and Measurement Based on the Capabilities Approach: The Case of Latin America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-12, November.
    15. Anne Jerneck, 2015. "Understanding Poverty," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(4), pages 21582440156, November.
    16. Lanz, Bruno & Dietz, Simon & Swanson, Tim, 2018. "The Expansion of Modern Agriculture and Global Biodiversity Decline: An Integrated Assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 260-277.
    17. Antonia Katharina Ruckli & Stefan Josef Hörtenhuber & Paolo Ferrari & Jonathan Guy & Juliane Helmerichs & Robert Hoste & Carmen Hubbard & Nadja Kasperczyk & Christine Leeb & Agata Malak-Rawlikowska & , 2022. "Integrative Sustainability Analysis of European Pig Farms: Development of a Multi-Criteria Assessment Tool," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-26, May.
    18. Hepburn, Cameron & Teytelboym, Alexander & Cohen, Francois, 2018. "Is Natural Capital Really Substitutable?," INET Oxford Working Papers 2018-12, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    19. Reed, James & van Vianen, Josh & Foli, Samson & Clendenning, Jessica & Yang, Kevin & MacDonald, Margaret & Petrokofsky, Gillian & Padoch, Christine & Sunderland, Terry, 2017. "Trees for life: The ecosystem service contribution of trees to food production and livelihoods in the tropics," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 62-71.
    20. Elena Tamburini & Paola Pedrini & Maria Gabriella Marchetti & Elisa Anna Fano & Giuseppe Castaldelli, 2015. "Life Cycle Based Evaluation of Environmental and Economic Impacts of Agricultural Productions in the Mediterranean Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-21, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:5:y:2015:i:2:p:286-312:d:50257. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.