Abstract
Food is central to all our lives. It is often assumed that all people can eat well in Australia, being a high-income, food-producing country. Despite that, in 2023, 16% of South Australian households could not access sufficient, nutritious food, due to economic hardship. This is further exacerbated by food system vulnerabilities, such as supply disruptions and climate change. Collaborative action across the public, private sector, for-purpose sectors and civil society is necessary to achieve a more secure food system, and in particular, to reduce and prevent food insecurity.
Like other jurisdictions, South Australia (SA) does not yet have a policy or whole-of-government strategy on food security, and it appears that no SA local government or region currently has a community food system/food security plan. Building on existing work with the SA food relief sector, Wellbeing SA and the Department of Human Services (DHS) are working together to develop an evidence-informed response to addressing food insecurity in SA.
Facilitated by the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) Flinders, and guided by an external advisory group, the purpose of this project was to:
•review recent evidence (from both research and grey literature, including lived experience)
•engage key stakeholders across food systems and social sectors to deliberate on actors, roles and actions identified in the evidence
•produce a discussion paper with recommendations to inform policy and action (this paper).
This paper is the first step in a potential larger initiative by the Government of South Australia. As such, this paper provides initial scoping and recommendations for policy and action. Specific priorities, place-based strategies and actions should then be developed at respective levels, guided by the systems model and framework of actors, actions and principles outlined in this paper.
Like other jurisdictions, South Australia (SA) does not yet have a policy or whole-of-government strategy on food security, and it appears that no SA local government or region currently has a community food system/food security plan. Building on existing work with the SA food relief sector, Wellbeing SA and the Department of Human Services (DHS) are working together to develop an evidence-informed response to addressing food insecurity in SA.
Facilitated by the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) Flinders, and guided by an external advisory group, the purpose of this project was to:
•review recent evidence (from both research and grey literature, including lived experience)
•engage key stakeholders across food systems and social sectors to deliberate on actors, roles and actions identified in the evidence
•produce a discussion paper with recommendations to inform policy and action (this paper).
This paper is the first step in a potential larger initiative by the Government of South Australia. As such, this paper provides initial scoping and recommendations for policy and action. Specific priorities, place-based strategies and actions should then be developed at respective levels, guided by the systems model and framework of actors, actions and principles outlined in this paper.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Bedford Park, South Australia |
| Publisher | Flinders University |
| Commissioning body | Wellbeing SA |
| Number of pages | 35 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 6 Nov 2023 |
Keywords
- Food security
- Food insecurity
- Food systems
- Policy framework
- Collective action
