URGENT ACTION NEEDED TO TACKLE FOOD POVERTY IN VICTORIA

“My family has a farming background, and I would love to support [our farmers]. I hate giving my money to organizations that I know collect mass profits while consumers, their employees and producers all live off the bare minimum."

176 organisations and individuals have sent strong messages about urgent measures needed to tackle the growing food poverty crisis in Victoria. These messages were delivered via submissions to the Legal and Social Issues Committee (LSC), which is conducting an inquiry into the impacts, drivers, and responses to food insecurity.

The Inquiry coincides with record levels of food insecurity in Victoria, and Australia. FoodBank has estimated that more than one third of Australians are moderately or severely food insecure. Meaning more than 2.4 million Victorians have likely run out of money to buy food, skipped meals, compromised on the quality and quantity of their diet, and/or gone a full day without eating at times throughout the last year.

Meanwhile, Victoria exports most of the food we grow. Nationally, 72% of food produced on this continent is exported to global markets, with Victoria accounting for a quarter of the national total. Given our status as a net food exporter combined with our wealth, it is an indictment of our food system that food insecurity is so high despite such abundant production.

In recent years, members of Victoria’s civil society, academics, those who are food insecure, farmers, local government, and community members have worked together to develop meaningful solutions to these extreme levels of food insecurity. Outcomes include local government food strategies, such as those developed in the City of Merri-bek, Cardinia Shire Council, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, plus City of Greater Bendigo; along with the VACCHO FoodPATH report; VicHealth-led Victorian Food Systems Consensus Statement; FoodPrint Melbourne’s Resilience Roadmap; Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance’s updated Peoples Food Plan; Farmers for Climate Action’s Farming Forever Report; and advocacy priorities outlined by the Victorian Farmers Federation.

Sustain welcomes the opportunity afforded by this Inquiry for Victoria’s food system stakeholders to convey this wealth of research and the evidence-based, best practice policy solutions they have tirelessly worked on in recent years.

Notably, we feel both Federal and State governments often neglect to listen to those with lived experience, along with those who have spent decades researching these issues. Whether it is Royal Commissions into deaths in custody, The Stolen Generation, or disability; State government inquiries into bushfires; or ACCC inquiries into food retail competition, we believe our recent governments have largely failed to implement recommendations bestowed through these democratic processes.

At best, we see implementation of a few simple recommendations, alongside a ‘plan to make a plan’ refreshed every few years. At worst, they are shelved, with little engagement, and the omnipresent voices of advocates falling on unlistening ears.

Amidst a warming climate with more frequent extreme and destructive weather, soil degradation, the ever-increasing costs of farming, and unstable global supply chains, the food insecurity crisis is likely to deepen, pushing millions more Victorians into food poverty.

Food insecurity and malnutrition are linked with many negative health, wellbeing, social, cultural, and economic outcomes. We, and many others, demand that the State government take immediate and strong action to ensure a prosperous, healthy, sustainable, and just food system for all Victorians. The Victorian government must see this an essential investment, with the Food Systems Economics Commission stating that “the (global) net benefits of achieving a food system transformation are worth 5 to 10 trillion USD a year”.

ENDS

Interview opportunities please contact:

Dr. Nick Rose, PhD | Executive Director,

Sustain: The Australian Food Network |Churchill Fellow: Innovative Models of Urban Agriculture

0414 497 819 | [email protected]