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INNOVATION IN PRACTICE
Rethinking food security in Australia: from production to purchasing power Australia produces enough food for millions, yet many households face food insecurity. Achieving true food security requires equitable access, innovative technology, and a national framework for resilience.
By Prof. Johannes le Coutre
Australia has long regarded itself as one of the world's most food-secure nations. Yet recent data from both the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (1) and Foodbank Australia (2) reveal that this con- fidence maybe misplaced - or, at least, incom- plete. The ABS reports that around 13.2 per cent of households - approximately 1.3 million nation- wide - experienced food insecurity in 2023, mean- ing they ran out of food and could not afford more. While this figure reflects the stricter international definition used by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), broader social-im- pact surveys by Foodbank show a much larger pro- portion - around one in three households (36 per cent) - experiencing some degree of food stress or compromise in diet quality and variety. Together, these two perspectives suggest that while outright hunger affects a smaller share of the population, economic vulnerability and poor dietary access are much more widespread and per- sistent. Australia's food security challenge, there- fore, is not primarily one of production - since the nation produces enough food to feed more than 75 million people - but one of purchasing power, affordability, and equity in access. The task ahead is to recognise these overlapping realities and en- sure that policy frameworks address both the nar- row and the broader dimensions of food insecurity.
Understanding the Food Security Gap Among households reporting food stress, rising ex- penses for food, energy, and housing remain the dominant pressures - 82 per cent cite cost-of-living increases as the main cause (Foodbank Australia 2023). In the most affected households, 97 per cent
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