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the australian farmer
In this light, food insecurity is not a marginal welfare concern, but a national challenge linked to economic justice, health equity, and sovereignty. A country that exports billions of dollars of food each year while hundreds of thousands of its cit- izens cannot afford to eat well must rethink what it means to be truly food secure. From Abundance to Sovereignty Australia's challenge, then, is not to produce more food but to build sovereign capacity, to ensure that every citizen can access and afford nutritious food regardless of economic shocks or global disruptions. True food sovereignty goes beyond self-suffi- ciency in production. It encompasses control over supply chains, fair distribution of economic bene- fits, and the ability to maintain domestic resilience when global trade or energy systems falter. The COVID-19 pandemic and recent geopolitical ten- sions have shown how vulnerable Australia remains to external dependencies for key agricultural inputs such as fertiliser, fuel, and processed foods. A forward-looking food policy must therefore begin with an "Australians First" mindset - not iso- lationist, but pragmatic. Domestic food security and purchasing power must take precedence over export volume. Ensuring secure access to affordable
worry about running out of food, and 93 per cent cannot afford balanced meals. Many skip meals weekly or reduce portion sizes regularly. The risk of food insecurity is not evenly distrib- uted. Households earning under $30,000 a year, single-parent families, renters, and people living in regional or remote areas are most affected. The ABS reports particularly high exposure among First Nations households and among those in regional economies dependent on casual or seasonal work. In regional Australia, Foodbank's 2023 data indi- cate that more than one-third of households (37 per cent) experience some form of food insecurity, while among single parents the rate rises to almost 70 per cent. While the methodologies of ABS and Foodbank differ, both data sources converge on one point: food insecurity has become a structural issue rather than a temporary shock. Even modest eco- nomic fluctuations can push vulnerable house- holds into crisis. Beyond its human toll, food insecurity undermines workforce productivity, education outcomes, and long-term public health. As the CSIRO notes, the cumulative social and eco- nomic cost of inadequate nutrition far exceeds the investments required to ensure equitable access to healthy food (3) .
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