School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemBUILDING THE RESILIENCE OF MELBOURNE’S FOOD SYSTEM – A ROADMAP A Foodprint Melbourne Report May 2022(University of Melbourne, 2022-01-01)This report from the Foodprint Melbourne research project presents a roadmap of strategies and policy approaches for strengthening the resilience of Melbourne’s food system to shocks and stresses. It focuses particularly on shocks and stresses related to climate change and pandemic, but also considers underlying food system stresses, such as high levels of food waste and declining supplies of the natural resources that underpin food production. The combined effects of these shocks and stresses undermine the resilience of food systems, drive up food prices and increase food insecurity. The report identifies six key areas of opportunity for action to strengthen the resilience of Melbourne’s food system to future shocks and stresses.
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ItemTHE RESILIENCE OF MELBOURNE’S FOOD SYSTEM TO CLIMATE AND PANDEMIC SHOCKS A Foodprint Melbourne Report May 2022(University of Melbourne, 2022-01-01)This report from the Foodprint Melbourne project summarises the findings of an investigation into the resilience of Melbourne’s food system to shocks and stresses. It focuses particularly on the resilience of Melbourne’s food system to climate and pandemic shocks and stresses. However, it also considers longer term underlying stresses on Melbourne’s food system from declining supplies of natural resources and environmental degradation. The report discusses the impacts of shocks and stresses throughout the food system from food production to consumption and the generation of waste. It identifies vulnerabilities in the city’s food system to these shocks and stresses, and it discusses the features of a resilient food system.
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ItemRoadmap for a resilient and sustainable Melbourne foodbowl(University of Melbourne, 2019)This report outlines a vision and roadmap for preserving Melbourne’s foodbowl for current and future generations as a fundamental building block in a healthy, resilient, sustainable and fair food system. This vision and ‘roadmap’ was developed through a collaborative process involving a wide range of stakeholders. Key elements include: Planning for a sustainable and resilient city foodbowl requires an integrated policy approach Five key pillars of policy action underpin a resilient and sustainable city foodbowl – farmland protection, farm viability, water access, nutrient recycling and sustainable farming Farmland should be permanently protected on Melbourne’s fringe by maintaining Melbourne’s Urban Growth Boundary, mapping agricultural land and introducing a new agricultural ‘zone’ Promoting the viability of farming in Melbourne’s foodbowl is as important as protecting farmland Farm viability should be promoted by investing in infrastructure that enables small-medium scale farmers to gain greater control of supply chains, ensuring that peri-urban producers are able to access relevant funding streams and applying local government ‘farm rates’ to all actively farmed land Water reuse for food production should be increased to address water scarcity in a warming climate Water reuse should be increased by adopting an integrated water management approach to managing water assets in farming areas, developing integrated assessment frameworks to cost delivery of recycled water and investigating options for greater reuse of storm water City foodbowls offer opportunities to close the loop by returning valuable nutrients from city organic waste back to the soil Nutrient recycling on farm should be promoted by preventing contamination of organic waste streams, collaborating with farmers to develop ‘fit for purpose’ compost products and establishing a Melbourne Nutrient Recycling Network Sustainable farming should be incentivised in Melbourne’s foodbowl Sustainable farming approaches should be incentivised through local government rate rebates, direct payments and extension services aimed at peri-urban farmers A diverse range of sustainable farming approaches should be promoted to increase the resilience of the city’s food system, including regenerative and agroecological approaches as well as sustainable intensification and closed-environment agriculture
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ItemHigher welfare labelling for eggs: A summary of findings from the project Regulating Food Labels: The case of free range food products in Australia(The University of Melbourne, 2018)A summary of findings from the project Regulating Food Labels: The case of free range food products in Australia
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ItemHigher welfare labelling for chicken meat: A summary of findings from the project Regulating Food Labels: The case of free range food products in Australia(The University of Melbourne, 2018)A summary of findings from the project Regulating Food Labels: The case of free range food products in Australia.
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ItemFoodprint Melbourne: What does it take to feed a city?(Victorian Eco Innovation Lab, the University of Melbourne, 2016)This report explores Melbourne’s ‘foodprint’ – the environmental footprint of feeding the city. It takes a lot of land, water and energy to feed a rapidly growing city like Melbourne, and a significant amount of food waste and GHG emissions are generated as a result. As supplies of the natural resources underpinning food production become more constrained, the city will need to explore new approaches to increase the sustainability and resilience of its food supply. This report aims to provide an evidence base to support this process. The principal findings of this research are: • It takes over 475L of water per capita per day to feed Melbourne, around double the city’s household usage. • 16.3 million hectares of land is required to feed Melbourne each year, an area equivalent to 72% of the state of Victoria. • Feeding Melbourne generates over 907,537 tonnes of edible food waste, which represents a waste of 3.6 million hectares of land and 180 GL of water. • Around 4.1 million tonnes of GHG emissions are emitted in producing the city’s food, and a further 2.5 million tonnes from food waste. • Melbourne is likely to grow rapidly between now and 2050, and its foodprint will increase significantly as a result. • Melbourne’s city foodbowl could play an important role in increasing the resilience and sustainability of the city’s food supply. • The city foodbowl has significant capacity for production of fresh foods. It also has access to recycled water and organic waste streams, and could reduce the city’s dependence on distant sources of fresh foods. • Key vulnerabilities in Melbourne’s regional food supply include loss of agricultural land, water scarcity and the impacts of climate change. • Potential strategies to increase the sustainability and resilience of Melbourne’s regional food supply include increasing urban density, shifting to regenerative agriculture, increasing the use of recycled water for agriculture, reducing food waste and modifying our diets. • Multiple strategies are likely to be needed to increase the sustainability and resilience of Melbourne’s regional food supply. • Around 10% of the available recycled water from Melbourne’s water treatment plants would be enough to grow half of the vegetables that Melbourne eats. • Increasing urban density as Melbourne grows could reduce urban sprawl by about 50% over the next 20 years, saving 180,000 hectares of land in Melbourne’s foodbowl – an area equivalent to almost 5 times Victoria’s vegetable growing land.