Submission to the House Standing Committee on Agriculture Inquiry into Food Security in Australia

In this submission I argue in relation to food security in Australia, and especially food security for our most vulnerable: Food security is, amongst other things, a public health problem. Food security needs to be better understood at all levels of government in accordance with accepted international and national definitions. Food security should be regularly and accurately measured using valid and reliable measures. A coordinated local, state and federal regulatory response is required which prioritises equitable outcomes for the population groups most vulnerable to food insecurity. A regulatory response to food insecurity in Australia needs to encompass chronic food insecurity, crisis food insecurity, and the increasing threat of climate change food system shocks which are producing a ‘chronic state of crisis’ in the food system. The fact that the majority of Australians enjoy food security does not abate the need to address the chronic underlying food insecurity affecting a significant proportion of the population, nor the need to have effective regulatory and policy mechanisms to respond to emerging crisis situations of food insecurity. Even wealthy, high-income countries like Australia have problems with food insecurity with serious consequences for affected segments of the population – we need an equally serious regulatory response at all levels of government.