A COMMUNITY forum on the need for safe and adequate food and its ability to create jobs and drive growth in regional Victoria was held in Ballarat last week.
Forum host Nationals' candidate for Buninyong, Sonia Smith and panel members Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh, chef and food writer Suzi Fitzpatrick, Melbourne restaurateur Riccardo Momesso, Balliang East mixed farmer Chris Sharkey and Central Highlands Agribusiness Forum (CHAF) chairman Andrew Young agreed educating people to value food and understand its production was vital.
The challenges of supporting local producers, while being part of a global economy, underscored many of the panelists' presentations and audience questions.
The best ways to help farmers is by improving access to the growing Asian markets, supporting efficiency-targeted research, development and extension, leveraging co-investment and making business in Victoria appealing, Mr Walsh said.
"Governments aren't going to subsidise," he told the 50-strong audience.
The majority of US Government subsidies to farmers has gone to corporations, instead of the intended family farmers, Mr Walsh argued.
"To subsidise (farmers), you would have to pay higher taxes or cut other services such as hospitals and schools," he said.
It is up to producers and processors to promote, if their products are locally produced and therefore have small carbon miles, because government regulation of such issues is cumbersome and expensive, Mr Walsh said.
"Farmers have to produce what people want," he said.
When Mr Sharkey talked about the challenges of farmers appealing to local council about land rates, especially in peri-urban areas where they now represent a small percentage of constituents, Mr Walsh encouraged farmers to be more politically active at local government level.
Victoria's agrifood industry can improve its performance to support growth and jobs by doing regional food branding and labelling better, as wine does, CHAF's Mr Young said.
Mr Momesso owns Valentino restaurant in Melbourne's inner-suburbs, and has worked hard to foster relationships with local producers.
It is up to everyone involved with food to educate the general population on its production and the importance of eating seasonally, Mr Momesso said.
This could be done formally with food production included in the Australian curriculum, Ms Smith added.
Read more in this week's Stock & Land.
