Sustainable food advocates are urging for a 30% increase in locally sourced produce for Brisbane by the 2032 Olympics, aiming to fortify the city's supply chains. The precise percentage of Brisbane's current local food production remains undetermined, a key topic for the upcoming south-east Queensland food summit. Emma-Kate Rose, director of the Food Connect Foundation, highlights the initiative as a strategy to tackle the systemic challenges facing Australia's food distribution, including the threat of extreme weather to extended supply lines. The goal leverages the Olympics to spark a broader conversation on long-term food system resilience.
Local food sourcing is noted for its benefits in reducing transport costs and emissions, enhancing food freshness and nutrition, and minimizing supply chain vulnerabilities to disruptions such as natural disasters or pandemics. Despite the historical role of Brisbane's peri-urban fringes in feeding the city, quantifying current production and distribution patterns proves challenging.
With Melbourne's food bowl capacity expected to decline from 41% to 18% of the city's needs by 2040 due to urban development, and Sydney's farmland only meeting 20% of its food requirements, the urgency for policy intervention is clear. Both federal and New South Wales inquiries recommend safeguarding agricultural land from urban expansion and enhancing the understanding of food supply chains.
Source: theguardian.com