Food Security Should Be a High Priority in Australia

Food and Agriculture Organization defines food security as “All people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” Food security includes the ability to buy, transport and store food, being able to cook household meals, the knowledge to make good eating decisions as well as having the time to do all of this. Having food security also means having access to food stores and various prices, quality and availability of different foods in stores. To ensure all of this food security is also the knowledge of what to eat and how much of it you should be eating.

There are 3 main levels of food security. You can either experience food security, food insecurity without hunger and food insecurity with hunger. Being secure means you have access to all the services and foods needed to eat a substantial amount of food per day without struggling to be able to do this, whereas food insecurity without hunger means someone has uncertainties of where their food is being sourced from and if they will eat but still manage to consume food. Food insecurity with hunger is where meals are missed and sometimes even adequate amount of time goes by without the consumption of food.

In the past year over 4 million Australians have experienced food insecurity, 1.5 million of these people have come from rural and remote areas. Also 1.5 million people have had uncertainties of where their next meal will come from. Food insecurity is commonly amongst people with low income jobs, lack of access to food services, people who are ill, sick or frail and people who do drugs and alcoholics. About 24% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are experiencing food insecurity making this the largest group in Australia. Of food insecurity in Australia 23% are unemployed people, 23% are single parents, 20% are low income earners, 20% are rental households and 15% are young people.

Australia’s population is currently just over 25 million people, yet Australia produces enough food to feed 60 million people. Australia fears that when the population increases to 40 million people we will be importing more food than we export which raises some concerns. The threatening factors to food security in Australia is climate change, urbanisation, relying more heavily on imported goods, natural disasters, religion conflicts and consumer demands. These affects could have a massive impact on the production, consumption and trade of food in Australia.

I believe Food Security in Australia should be a higher priority, as more problems are arising that need to be managed. Australia is putting strategies and money in place to help the agriculture of Australia. In 2018/19 about 247.7 million dollars will be invested to help the food security of Australia. Food Security is being jeopardised by urbanisation, climate change and natural disasters. Urbanisation is where land and natural biomes are being altered to fit the need of society; for example, roads, housing and shops. Natural disasters and climate change are very similar as they are both out of our control. Natural disasters can wipe out vegetation and make farming extremely hard, especially due to floods and droughts. Climate change has altered the natural temperatures of biomes which means altered farming conditions in which farmers are not used to or prepared for.

Urbanisation is one of the biggest factors which influence the food security in Australia. Australia is 89% urban and 11% rural and within Australia, New South Wales is the most urbanised state (90.1%). The more urbanised Australia becomes the more problems with food security that arise. Urbanisation mainly affects the availability, adequacy and stability of food sources in Australia.

Australia’s population has about a 1.6% annual growth each year and if this continues until 2100 the population could reach 100 million. About 67% of these people live in the capital cities and as they continue to grow so does their need to accommodate for the population. An annual increase of 400,000 people per year means Australia has to provide enough housing and food for the population. Natural farming land is being cleared to build living spaces yet destroying land in which food is grown. Land in Australia is precious as the population is rapidly increasing we need to properly manage the farming land to infrastructure ratio.

If urbanisation in Sydney continues at the rate it is going now there is a chance 60% of total food production could be lost. A lot of the fertile soil is being ruined for housing purposes. Although urbanisation is an importance in today's society, where do we draw the line? Prices of housing in the city is rising therefore people are being forced to move into more urban areas causing farming land to be altered for living purposes. This implies there are more people to accommodate for, meaning land for food production is being significantly reduced.

As residents are moving to more rural areas, this has put restrictions on farmers. For example time restrictions have been put in place because of the noise and only certain types of fertilisers can be used because of the smell. This can start to have an effect of the quality of the farming.

From 2009-2011 farming land decreased by 33% because of the growth of population. Food security is being jeopardised in Australia because as urbanisation continues we have a higher consumer demand but more complications with our supply. It is estimated by 2050 more than 17 million hectares of land will be threatened.

As of now Australia priorities issues that could have the greatest economic impact but our agriculture is not one of them. I strongly believe Food Security should be highly prioritised as this is a problem that can't be fixed overnight. If we leave it too late Australia’s farming land will continue to be destroyed and food sources will become limited.

Urbanisation affects the availability, accessibility, acceptability, adequacy and stability of food in Australia. As fertile farming land becomes more valuable and subdue to alterations due to a growing population the availability of food is at risk. This means failure at growing crops and clearing of land is jeopardising the food security. The accessibility of food is also a problem as the less land there is to farm the more expensive food will become making it harder for people to purchase food. This then affects adequacy of food as diets can start to be heavily based off a certain type of food which can cause malnutrition. Acceptability of food will change as Australia might have to more heavily depend on importing food not making it Australian, sustainable or environmentally friendly. All of the factors mentioned above affect the stability of food in Australia which leads to higher levels of food insecurity therefore food security should be a higher priority in Australia.

Urbanisation is becoming a bigger problem as the more urban Australia becomes the more pollution we create and more greenhouse gases are emitted which enhances climate change. As human activity increases more substances are being let into the atmosphere which keeps the temperature warmer than usual. Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are the highest on record out of all countries mainly because of the rapid increase of urbanisation on our land. If Australia’s urban expansion is not managed, temperatures in Australia could continue to increase and make conditions for farming more difficult.

Urbanisation has many negative impacts on the farming land in Australia which jeopardises the food security. All of these changes are happening quite rapidly and are affecting Australia, therefore implications to manage the situation need to be placed immediately before it is too late.

Australia is a dry country with very little fertile farming land. The effects of climate change are becoming more serious and are affecting the food security in Australia. Climate Change is not something that can entirely be managed or stopped so it is important Australia recognises the problems and priorities finding strategies to reduce the negative impacts on our country. Food Security is in desperate need for a higher priority in Australia as there many factors impacting our land and if it continues Australia could end up in a national food crisis.

Climate is one of the biggest impacts on farming in Australia. Places for farming, growth of crops, grazing of animals, soil types, water accessibility all depend on the climate which can affect the accessibility of food.

When farmers have droughts or floods prices for food will increase but as the climate is causing more difficulties when farming food prices are permanently increasing. As the weather has extremely changed over the past couple of decades and is unpredictable more work and money is needed to be put into farming.

Australia’s temperature is increasing and partly because of highly growing urbanisation. Australia is responsible for 16% of the world’s greenhouse emissions. As Australia becomes more urbanised the more pollution that is emitted which stays in our atmosphere. Over time this makes temperatures increase which results in climate change. The warmer the temperature becomes the drier the landscape will be which results in reduced salinity levels in soils and terrible farming conditions. As well as this the ocean’s temperature also rises which means ancient glaciers melt and cause sea levels to rise. This can cause floods, which can again ruin farming land.

About 65% of Australia’s food is exported but this could be significantly reduced as Australia is one of the countries that will be most affected by climate change. Around 50% of our agriculture is connected to an irrigation system. Rainfall is set to decline in Australia and this will heavily affect the farming. Australia is the driest inhabited continent and country with reduced rainfall more land could become less suitable for farming and food supplies could drop. Harsh heat can reduce the quality of meat, reduce production of milk and because of all the CO2 in the atmosphere reduce nutrition in growing crops.

The Murray Darling Basin is responsible for around 40% of Australia’s total agricultural production, 96% of our cotton production and about 40% of fruit production. The MDB heavily relies on their irrigation system as over 66% of farms are irrigated. The MDB has been subdue to many droughts which has many impacts on the farming. The irrigation system in the MDB is extremely important and is under threat due to less rainfall. With reduced rainfall it means the less water there is to irrigate the plants. This will easily reduce the food production of the Murray Darling Basin as water is an essential part to farming. Without the water crops will be unable to grow as the water used for irrigation will be reduced. This can also affect the farmers as with minimal rainfall grass won’t grow as well leaving farmers having to spend all their money on watering the grass and bales of hay to feed the animals. Climate change is a major influencer on the food security in Australia therefore it should be higher prioritised before there is nothing we can no longer do.

Climate Change can impact crop quality and quantity which affects food security in Australia. With a rapidly growing population we cannot afford to be producing less food and losing our farming land. Climate change has already affected the availability, access and stability of food for people. Due to weather changes crops and fields are being affected making it extremely difficult to grow certain foods and keep livestock alive and healthy. This means the amount of food available is decreasing. Access to food is also a concern as some farms can’t afford to keep maintaining their farm they are stopping production. This means in some places certain ranges of foods won't be available. This can alter diets of the population eg. more heavily vegetable based diet. If a diet becomes too reliant on one food this can affect the nutrition of the people eg. iron deficiency. All these factors affect the food stability of the population, therefore food security should be a higher priority in Australia.

Climate change is affecting the food security in Australia and has many long term, negative impacts on the agriculture of our land. If urbanisation is managed properly the rapid rate of climate change can be reduced and minimise the negative effects on our country. Due to more intense weather natural disasters are becoming a more common occurrence, especially floods and droughts.

Natural disasters are completely out of our control but Australia needs to prioritise food security to ensure the negative impacts are minimised and we are prepared for future challenges.

In 2010-11 over 14 billion dollars of damage cost from floods in Queensland was spent. It is said that by 2050 the amount of money can rise up to 33 billion dollars. Due to increases in temperature and rising sea levels, the intense heat causes long droughts amongst most rural areas which then can go along to cause bushfires. As well as this floods are quite common especially in Queensland.

Natural disasters have many impacts on the agriculture in Australia. In 2061 the demand for food could be up to 90% more than what it is now but as natural disasters become more frequent will Australia be able to produce enough food? The most common natural disaster in Australia is bushfires then droughts and floods, this is mainly due to drier weather.

Natural disasters can wipe out crops, temporarily or permanently destroy farming land, making farming conditions too difficult. For example farms could go through a really bad drought which makes the soil dry and have cracks, then directly after have a flood which means the flood will wipe out all the crops and the water won't absorb into the soil as its too dry.

Droughts in Australia are quite common but lately heatwaves are becoming more intense and lasting for longer periods of time. During droughts there is usually extremely little to no rainfall which means money is to be spent on watering crops, water and food for animals. Hay can cost up to $170 per bale and depending on the amounts of livestock there is to feed a farmer might need 6-12 per week which can cost about $1020-$2040. This can mean because of the high costs to feed animals when it is time to sell them they are underweight, malnutritious and may be ill. As well as this farmers have to spend money on watering crops which can be a problem as during droughts water is extremely valuable and limited. Farmers dont make many profits during droughts and start spending more money and acquiring debts. This affects the food security in Australia as food sources are becoming limited and food becomes more expensive.

Due to rising sea levels floods are becoming more common in Australia. Floods are the most expensive natural disaster in Australia costing about $377 million dollars per year. When a flood is occurring it wipes out anything in its way including crops and livestock. It also damages the soil and can take away any fertile soil leaving farms permanently damaged. When soil is flooded it becomes extremely difficult to farm in these conditions but after a period of time water levels will go back to normal and the land can still be farmed on. Although the soil returns to its normal water levels when floods come it removes the topsoil which has the most amount of nutrients and where fertiliser has been added by farmers, by having constant droughts the soil decreases its fertility, which reduces the quality of crops. After floods farmers have to pay for the all of the damage such as destruction of equipment, loss of crops and livestock and repairs to homes and fences. Over time a lot of money is spent on damage especially the more frequent the flood. This means the food prices will go up yet there is most likely to be less stock which affects the food security in Australia.

Bushfires are the most common occurring natural disasters in Australia. Due to increases in temperature and droughts Australia’s landscape has become more arid making it more prone to fires. Fires can be extremely damaging in its best and worst case scenarios. They can wipe out all crops and burn the farming land and in some severe cases take years to fully recover. Fires not only affects the crops but they can injure and kill livestock. As wildfires take some time to recover from, crops grown from that particular area become more expensive to make up for lost money which is not ideal for the consumers. Bushfires emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere which contributes to global warming. Fertile soil is very important when farming and fires can cause many physical and chemical changes eg. moisture lost, minerals and clay heated to another phase, ash produced and nitrogen loss. Due to this the land can no longer be used for farming.

Natural disasters affect the availability, accessibility, adequacy and stability of food in Australia. By natural disasters destroying crops and farming land the availability of food becomes more limited. This can then affect the accessibility of food as farmers try to make more money by putting up prices on food or the product is not available therefore consumers won’t buy that product and will not able to access the food they desire. Natural disasters affect the adequacy of food as there may be lack of production of certain foods which means people aren’t able to consume all the foods required for a healthy diet. All these factors affect the food stability as there may not be as much variety of food available or access to foods which means consumers don’t have as much freedom in their food choices.

Farmers whose land is prone to natural disasters live extremely difficult lives. It can be an extremely expensive and tough time to produce crops during droughts, fires and floods. As this industry is becoming harder and more unpredictable farmers can start to lose their farms due to ruined land and debts, this means there will be less production of foods in Australia with higher demands which affects the food security in our country.

Natural disasters are uncontrollable and have extremely harsh long and short term effects on agricultural land. Australia needs to highly prioritise food security as more frequent natural disasters can cause all farming land could be destroyed within the next few decades. Action needs to be taken before it's too late!

Food security is the state where consumers have access to nutritional, safe and sufficient amounts of food at all times enabling a healthy diet. There are 5 components that affect food security availability, accessibility, acceptability, adequacy and stability. All these factors of food security is being jeopardised because of urbanisation, climate change and natural disasters. All these different factors have different impacts on food production and also impact each other. Urbanisation is contributing to climate change which then effects natural disasters. Australia needs to highly prioritise food security as these factors are becoming more intense and ruining the agriculture of Australia. If strategies are not implemented as soon as possible food insecurity will become more common amongst the growing population in Australia. If we continue to neglect this issue Australia will not be able to recover whereas if we work hard now we can start to amend what we have already ruined. All the reasons outlined above support my argument that food security should be a high priority in Australia. How long will we wait before it becomes too late?