Talks

Vegecarian Festival Bendigo November 2013

Our modern western diet comes with a very heavy environmental footprint and substantial health and social impacts.

The rapid worldwide growth in meat consumption is driving emissions growth and contributing to ischaemic heart disease, obesity, and bowel cancer, highlighting the common drivers between high emissions lifestyles and the global epidemic of chronic diseases. We may be seeing the first younger generation emerge with a lower life expectancy than their parents.

It is also may be a generation where antibiotics are no longer effective thanks to the extensive use of antibiotics in the production of industrial meat where production methods such as in the poultry industry rely on routine antibiotic use, with its potential devastating impacts on human health.

In the US it is estimated that 2 million people per year are sickened by antibiotic-resistant infections, with 23,000 dying as a result.

I also think there are significant consequences for our gut health and as we are have found there is a significant link between gut health and correct microflora and a range of disorders, including mental health.

It takes, on average, 3 kg of grain to produce 1 kg of meat. 33 % of the world’s cropland area is used for livestock and about 16,000 litres of virtual water are needed to produce 1 kg of meat. The rapidly increasing demand for meat worldwide is resulting in an accelerated demand for water, crop and rangeland area. Meat production is energy inefficient and environmentally harmful at industrial scales and nearly half of the world’s cereals are being used for animal feed.

Australians currently eat an average of 116 kgs of meat per year. Stabilising the current meat production per capita by reducing meat consumption to the year 2000 level of 37 kg/capita would free an estimated 400 million tons of cereal per year for human consumption – or enough to cover the annual calorie need for 1.2 billion people in 2050. This is a direct counter to the food security argument of those with vested interest who propose the need for industrial scale agriculture and biotechnology as the only feasible means to feed a growing population in the future.

Adopting a vegetarian diet is one option to increase the amount of water available to grow more food in an increasingly climate-erratic world, with animal protein-rich food consuming five to 10 times more water than a vegetarian diet.

We can make healthy and sustainable food choices and the time to do so is now.

Kyabram launch of Goulburn Valley Food Cooperative and Schools Awards

 

Thanks for the invitation to be part of this important community event celebrating leadership in community food initiatives.

Society is now facing serious issues in planning for the future of food production and distribution in Australia. 

In addition the ability of the community to access healthy and nutritious food into the future requires a strategy that places the community at the centre of deciding what food we want produced and where and how we want it produced.

Food security is a misunderstood term but “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. (World Food Summit, 1996). The question that is asked to assess food security is ‘Have you run out of food or the money to buy it in the last 12 months?’ doesn’t address the quality of food that we need to thrive. In Victoria around 6% of people say yes to this question and it is higher in regional areas.

The situation in the Goulburn Valley has highlighted how important food growing and manufacturing is to regional communities. The Australian Government has a new National Food Plan that wants us to be the food bowl of Asia, but it says little about the opportunities for youth to be part of the careers of the future in food production. However there is huge potential in this community for those careers.

There is some good news with recognition that food, culture, health and our environment are intricately related. The health and wellbeing of communities of the future in a changing climate will depend on the next generation developing skills that will help them be part of resilient societies facing challenges in accessing healthy and nutritious food and the jobs associated with that.

There are already challenges for our younger generation with low rates of fruit and vegetable intake, a rapidly escalating obesity rate and rocketing incidence of type 2 diabetes and allergies.  

But the exciting thing is that once more people are rediscovering an interest in food growing and this is occurring across many different groups in the community. One of the largest groups is the younger generation. Kids are starting to learn about food growing in school gardens thanks to leaders like Alice Waters in the US, Jamie Oliver in the UK and Stephanie Alexander in Australia.

At a government level here there is support for programs such as the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program and Healthy Communities Initiatives such as Healthy Together Bendigo that has a focus on supporting schools. There are currently close to three dozen schools and early childhood centres in Bendigo that have some form of food growing activity. Programs such as the Edible Classrooms program and lots of smaller efforts all revolve around the principle of grow, pick and eat. 

We know that when people grow their own food they increase their intake of fruit and vegetables and that is very important in preventing a lot of diseases that are increasing.

When food literacy is taught as a life skill in schools the ability to plan, grow, shop and cook food increases and we see more resilient and healthy adults which can only be a good thing for the future of our communities.

I am involved in the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance and in August there is the first Fair Food Week in Australia with community food events all around the country helping us to understand the importance of nourishing all people, keeping growers profitable and nurturing the environment. During that week the People’s Food Plan will be launched with a vision for how food systems need to be based on growing food that the community wants produced, in a manner and place that people want. Those of us who buy, prepare and eat food are more powerful than we think.

Today you will also hear about the Oxfam GROW method that has six simple steps to address food security issues, globally and locally: Save food, eat seasonally, support farmers, cook smart, eat less meat and dairy and eat sustainably.

The lucky schools who are receiving their grants today to assist them on the path to food security are creating history in this region and the GVFC is showing tremendous vision and leadership in encouraging such an inspiring range of school based projects.  Its also an opportunity for all of the schools to keep communicating their successes and create a regional success story that can provide inspiration to others. Perhaps a virtual regional schools food hub could be one outcome?

So congratulations and it will be great to watch the outcomes in the future in this community.