New University of Melbourne research has called on the state government to the enshrining of the "right" to access to food in legislation.
The University of Melbourne report, "Planning a Food Resilient System for Victoria" says enshrining the right to access to adequate food in the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities would hold the government to account.
"That right has not been legislated in Australia," report co-author Melbourne University Food Systems senior lecturer Rachel Carey said.
"There is currently no mechanism to hold governments to account and there is very little policy focus in Australia, at any level of government, as to whether or not people have access to adequate food."
The report was released by Foodprint Melbourne.
Access to adequate food supplies was part of a right to an adequate standard of living, the report said.
"I think there is a fundamental issue in Australia where it comes back to the narrative that we are a food secure country, because we produce and export 70 per cent of what we produce," Dr Carey said.
"Food security is about much more than how much we produce, it's fundamentally about people's ability to access the food that is available."
The report drew on state government figures from 2022, which showed one in 12 Victorian adults, or 8 per cent of the adult population, experienced severe food insecurity.
That was up by 40pc from 2020, the report stated.
Dr Carey said severe food insecurity was defined as running out of food and not being able to afford more.
"Others are forced to take steps to avoid running out, such as going without food themselves in order to feed their children, skipping meals, or buying cheaper and less healthy options," she said.
Federal and state policies largely focused on increasing food production for export, rather than increasing the resilience of domestic food supplies to shocks, such as natural disasters and other events she said.
"The biggest contributors to food insecurity are poverty and the cost of living," she said.
"With more events such as floods, fires, storms and droughts stressing our food systems, now is the time to establish a state framework to address food insecurity."
The current main areas of government policy on food, particularly in relation to agriculture, were about production, food safety and increasing people's consumption of healthy foods.
"We are focussed on economic growth, but that says very little about our own domestic food supplies - whether they meet the needs of the population for a healthy and sustainable diet and how resilient they are to shocks and stresses," she said.
The main approach to addressing food insecurity in Victoria, emergency food relief, did not adequately fulfil obligations related to the human right to food, the report found.
"Food with dignity" approaches should be implemented to address food insecurity, such as social supermarkets, community-based markets and voucher schemes, " it found.
Dr Carey said another policy gap was in food supply chains.
"What happens when the food has left the farms and ensuring those food supply chains are resilient?," she said.
"Our policies have mainly focussed on food production, rather than other stages of the chain - processing, distribution, retail and consumption," she said.
"A whole-of-government approach is needed, starting from production through to consumption. Nothing is more basic than a right to adequate food."
Dr Carey said she was hopeful there was a growing awareness of food security issues, as evidenced by recent parliamentary inquiries, including two in Victoria.
The government had an opportunity to consider a strong legislative framework for food security and implementation of the human right to food during the inquiry into food security in Victoria, due to report in November.
"We would very much hope out of these inquiries comes recognition of the need for a whole of government approach to addressing food security through a state legislated and policy framework that includes a significant focus on resilience, food systems and food access, as well as production," she said.
"There must be some government responsibility and accountability as to whether to people have access to adequate food, and that doesn't exist, at the moment."
The state government has been contacted for comment.
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
