Released as part of the Food System Horizons initiative, CSIRO has completed the first national stocktake of Australia’s food system. The $800 billion food system feeds around 100 million people and is powered by 100,000 farmers.
Australia’s food system has the highest hidden costs per capita globally, totalling $274 billion – largely from environmental and health impacts. The report urges a more comprehensive approach to managing and reporting on the national food system to strengthen resilience against agricultural challenges and address critical sustainability issues.
“Our food system is more than just producing and exporting commodities – it’s also about providing equitable access to safe, nutritious and healthy food, produced sustainably for all Australians,” said CSIRO agriculture and food director Michael Robertson said.
“We have an intergenerational responsibility to pursue these goals vigorously.
“This national stocktake provides an evidence base to guide our actions as social, cultural, environmental, and economic priorities shift.
“While Australia’s wider food system is an economic and production success, generating more than $800 billion annually and providing significant employment particularly in regional areas, the intersection of our food system with other critical goals calls for a more comprehensive way to evaluate its performance.”
Three key steps for transformation were identified in the report:
- Recognising the food system as an integrated whole, moving beyond a sector-based perspective.
- Navigating responsibility across government, industry and communities to ensure shared accountability.
- Enabling better interaction between disconnected parts of the system, including farming, nutrition, policy and innovation.
According to CSIRO sustainability research director Larelle McMillan, Australia’s current food policy is fragmented, spread across agriculture, environment, industry, social services, health, transport and urban planning. The report’s findings aim to support efforts to address food insecurity by identifying where the system is falling short.
“We need to move from analysing specific parts of the food system, to establishing coordinated reporting for important food system attributes and interactions, thus enabling connected up action for a national food system that serves all,” she said.
“This can be used as a focal point to bring together a greater diversity of voice and vision to identify pathways to sustainable, healthy and affordable food for all Australians.”
The Food System Horizons initiative is a collaborative effort between CSIRO and The University of Queensland.