Office for Environmental Programs - Theses
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ItemConcentration and market power in the Australian wheat and dairy sectors: evidence of a corporate food regime?( 2013)Corporate concentration in the food system is recognised as having detrimental impacts on farmers, food production workers and consumers. More broadly, the power and influence of dominant agribusiness corporations is increasingly evident in public policy, giving rise to concerns regarding the ability for democratic decision making in food and agricultural systems. Charting the evolution of capitalism at a world-scale through the lens of food production and consumption, food regimes theory situates these trends as hallmarks of an emerging `corporate food regime'. This research examines concentration and market power through case study analysis of two major agricultural commodity sectors in Australia, wheat and dairy. Each case study provides empirical evidence of market concentration within the commodity's supply chain, before examining the political economy of market relations in the sector. Comparing these case studies, common elements of contemporary agri-food restructuring are observable, including: industry rationalisation and consolidation; information asymmetries; the failure of competition law in Australia to prevent abuses of market power; the presence of trans-national agribusiness; an ongoing, albeit complex, role for farmer co-operatives; and a trend of replacing government regulation with weaker forms of industry or market self-regulation. Interpreting these material restructuring trajectories through the lens of food regimes theory, this research supports the notion of an emerging corporate food regime in Australia, whereby increasing concentration and market power of oligopoly firms further integrates agriculture and food systems into globalised capital flows, and is strengthen by the state's commitment to neo-liberal practice.
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ItemIntegrated approaches to municipal food policy development in Melbourne( 2013)As challenges around the global industrialised food system continue to surface, municipal food planning and policy development is emerging as a prominent field of work within cities and urban environments. Local and integrated approaches to food system governance are necessary within this field to incorporate health, environmental and social justice concerns. This research examined the policy development processes of existing local government food policies in Melbourne. It aimed to better understand the drivers behind this work, how integrated approaches are currently incorporated into the policy-making processes, and the challenges and enablers that are common in this type of work for Melbourne councils. Although perhaps not as progressed as other examples of municipal food policy development elsewhere, this research indicates key areas of policy development where integrated processes are emerging, and findings can thus be useful other municipalities or councils as they begin engaging in food policy work themselves.
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ItemThe farmers, their brand, the market and the consumer: consumer preferences for beef produced with an Environmental Management System( 2006)In light of the growing public awareness of the environmental impacts of food production, this paper explores the question: Is there a relationship between branded environmental labelling on beef and purchasing decisions? The research considers how consumers' professed attitudes to the environmental impacts of farming affect their attitudes to eco-labelled beef products that are produced using a certified on-farm Environmental Management System. The research concludes that there is a relationship between environmental labelling and consumers' decision to purchase beef. This relationship is related to consumers' attitudes towards the impact that beef farming has on the environment and their level of trust in the producer. The research also finds that the participating consumers were confused about the meaning of terms that are used on product labels and that respondents did not clearly understand the concept of Environmental Management Systems. The findings suggest that effort should be directed into informing the public about how Environmental Management Systems mitigate the impacts of beef production on the environment.