City Research Online

Abstract

The global world we live in is made to seem smaller by technology but also by the realisation that the way we live and behave has consequences elsewhere, news is instantaneous with food and humanitarian crises being reported as they happen. For food this requires us to behave as global citizens and be cognisant of how our behaviours impact on others but also how our governments and private companies conduct trade with emerging economies. The Australian Government and the Australian food industry are planning encroachments into the growing SE Asia food market. Australia sees itself as the food bowl of SE Asia in the Asian Century (Gillard. 2012; The Australian, 2013). The Australian National Food Plan (Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, 2013) envisages the production of more meat, fat, salt and sugary products for export, thus exporting chronic diseases via dietary intake. While at the same time the proposal is to cut aid to some of these same developing economies that it is proposed to export food to. Australia is no different from most developed economies with food plans based on export and trade and not linked or tied to sustainability or healthy eating policies (Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance, 2013; Friel, 2010; Friel, Barosh and Lawrence, 2013: Caraher, 2013).

This article explores the place of developed economies in the global food economy and attempts to ground this by relating some of the issues to the Australian context and the changing food climate.

Publication Type:	Article
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Healthcare Services Research & Management > Food Policy

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