New initiative to tackle urgent need to transform Australia’s food systems
25 June 2024
At the Food System Horizons Launch. Back row, from left: Dr Michael Robertson (Acting Executive Director, Future Industries, CSIRO), Dr Rohan Nelson (Director, Food System Horizons), Prof Matthew Morrell (Director, QAAFI). Front row, from left: Dr Tracy Henderson (Board Member, FAN), Ms Katie McRoberts (CEO, AFI), Ms Rachel Chambers (CEO, QFVG), Ms Sarah Pennell (COO, Foodbank Australia), Dr Lilly Lim-Camacho (Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO)
A new initiative will tackle urgent challenges facing our food systems – from changing climates to cost of living pressures .
Food System Horizons – a partnership between CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency and The University of Queensland – was launched in Brisbane this month.
Director of the joint initiative, Dr Rohan Nelson, said that Australians needed to start thinking differently about their food systems to be sustainable in the future.
“We are pretty lucky in Australia in terms of supply of nutritious food, but we can’t take that for granted into the future.
“In the face of rising food insecurity, the cost-of-living squeeze and a changing climate, the time to act is now”, he said.
Food System Horizons will use science and research to encourage Australians to better understand the complexity of food systems and the role they play in ensuring those systems are sustainable into the future.
“We are opening up a dialogue right across Australia – from government to industry to the general consumer – covering everything from food production, processing, distribution, marketing, consumption and waste management”, said Dr Nelson.
“Taking a systems perspective will allow us to better understand the big picture and what we need to do to safeguard our food systems for the future.”
UQ Professor Matthew Morell said now more than ever, Australia must consider the complexities of sustainably producing nutritious food while reducing the use of scarce and fragile resources to meet the needs of economies and consumers.
“The Food System Horizons initiative will provide a vehicle for Australia’s leading food researchers and scientists to come together with policymakers, community leaders, company executives, and innovators to imagine alternative future food systems”, Professor Morell said. Around 80 people attended the launch of Food System Horizons on 19 June in Brisbane.
Around 80 people attended the launch of Food System Horizons on 19 June in Brisbane. View photo gallery https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBwbpi
Contact: Dr Rohan Nelson, Director Food System Horizons email: rohan.nelson@csiro.au mobile: +61 (0)455 023 094
This article was first published by Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation