Perspectives
Feeding the future: what role for cities? By Bonnie Birch Melbourne, Australia. Credit: Alf Scalise, from Pixabay.
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lobally, food systems are becoming sites of ‘experimentation and contestation’ as state and civil society actors gain awareness of their environmental, public health and social justice ramifications.1 In the context of climate change and a burgeoning global population, all food system activities—production, processing, packaging, distribution, retailing, and consumption—are under increased scrutiny. This is evident in highly urbanised nations like Australia, where industrialised food systems interact with the spatial form and socio-economic inequalities of cities to produce perverse outcomes including non-communicable diseases and food insecurity. Although food policy is not a traditional focus of city-level governments, cities are now leading the charge to create more environmentally sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food systems. Using the city of Melbourne, Australia as a case study, this article will examine how this transformation is occurring through integrated city planning, alternative food networks, and urban agriculture.
28 | Solutions | Winter 2020 | www.thesolutionsjournal.com
City-food system interactions in Australia The challenge of feeding Australia’s growing population has a distinctly urban dimension. Approximately 83 per cent of Australians reside in capital cities, and of the forecast national population growth of 11.8 million by 2046, 75 per cent is expected to occur in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.1,2 While cities are hubs of innovation and cultural diversity, they often have large ecological footprints.3 For example, research suggests that Melbourne will require at least 60 per cent more food by 2050.4 Meeting this demand will be challenging within the current ‘productionist