The ‘Australian Year of the Farmer’ (AYOF) was a campaign run in 2012 and aimed to celebrate and promote Australian farmers, and to illustrate the significant role agriculture plays in the Australian economy.
A small group of individuals, who were worried about the lack of awareness of agriculture by urban residents, started the campaign.
The campaign aimed to persuade Australians to think about where their food comes from and encourage them to buy Australian produce. It also aimed to illustrated how farmers play the role of ‘environmental managers’, delivering sustainable practices through efficient management.
But Mick Keogh from the Australian Farm Institute found a couple of flaws with AYOF. He thought it was focused on the farmer rather than the food and fibre produced by farmers. The campaign did not focus on one product that consumers could buy at stores.
The other issue is even if consumers want to buy Australian grown produce, labelling laws do not make it easy for them to distinguish what products are Australian grown. Packaging does not need to have clear information about where the product was grown. Packaging may say ‘Made in Australia from imported and local ingredients’, which leads consumers to think they are purchasing Australian grown products.
Keogh has blogged on top ten reasons why consumers should choose Australian grown food and fibre products.
Top 10 reasons to consume Australian grown food and fibre
- High quality
- Safety
- Traceability
- Cost to consumers
- Low and declining greenhouse emissions
- Fair treatment of workers
- Environmentally-friendly
- Supporting Australia’s regions
- High animal welfare standards
- Supporting family farming
Check out his full blog here.