We build healthy & sustainable food systems
The think & do network of citizen farmers, researchers, policy experts and community connectors on a mission to transform food.
Sowing the seeds of change
We support communities and organisations with the knowledge, tools and connections they need to become agents of food system transformation.
This is a call for political courage and action on the cost of living crisis and our broken food system. No more band-aids or quick fixes. The hard work to reform food in Australia must start.
It’s time to #VoteforFood!
Events
Food Systems Under Pressure
Recent military escalation involving the United States and Israel has intensified conflict with Iran, with far-reaching consequences for global energy, trade and food systems. As supply chains destabilise and key shipping routes face disruption, the impacts are already being felt globally, including here in Australia.
While communities play a vital role in building resilience, governments have a clear responsibility to actively support this work through strong policy, adequate resourcing and structural reform.
local government networking forum
This is a special edition of our Local Government Food Systems Network, bringing together council representatives to explore how rising fuel costs are affecting food affordability, access, and production.
What’s on the agenda:
The session will explore lessons from COVID-19, the advocacy role of local governments, and insights from community findings. It will also highlight practical strategies to support food security and resilience.
Join the conversation and connect with peers responding to today’s food challenges.
Victorian Food Policy Forum
The Federal government’s process to create a National Food Security Strategy, Feeding Australia, opens a vital window for local governments, community food organisations, citizens and stakeholders from across the food system to discuss the key issues, identify key shared needs and priorities, and engage directly with local, state and Federal policy makers.
Our Food Policy Forums connect food system changemakers, looks at what’s working on the ground, and turns shared challenges into collective action, collaboration and momentum.
Latest Articles
-
The Case for Urban Farm Incubators in Australia
A Blueprint for Local Economic Development, Community Connection, Food Security and Climate Resilience Australia at a Crossroads Australia’s food and farming system is facing a generational transition. Farmers are ageing, land prices are soaring, and new entrants- especially first-generation farmers- face almost insurmountable barriers to access, training, and capital. At the same time, communities are…
-
Victorian Food Policy Forum: Melbourne
One hundred and fifty passionate and experienced leaders from across Victoria and interstate met at the Angliss Conference Centre in Naarm / Melbourne on 22nd May 2026 for a deep dive into action being taken across Victoria to tackle food insecurity. Sustain convened this Forum with our Victorian partners both to showcase and celebrate the…
-
Australian food security pulse check survey
Understanding food insecurity in Australia Australia has experienced chronic and rising food insecurity since the early 1990s, when the first Foodbank opened in NSW. Rates of food insecurity rose sharply in the wake of the post-COVID inflation-driven cost of living crisis, with Foodbank Australia’s 2025 Hunger Report indicating that 1 in 3 Australians were experiencing…
