Australia is one of the most food secure nations in the world, with access to a wide variety of healthy and nutritious foods. Australia is one of the most food secure countries in the world, for several reasons. Australia produces much more food than it consumes, exporting around 70% of agricultural production.
172,000 workers needed say peak food industry bodies or prolonged higher food prices for consumers and reduced food availability will continue throughout 2022 and beyond. Australia's top peak food industry bodies have calculated the food supply chain is short at least 172,000 workers from paddock to plate.
Australia produces some of the world's best dairy, fruit, vegetable, grains, pulses, edible oils and honey in the world. 2. Australia is home to 60 percent of the world's organic farmland.
Australia also has a reputation internationally as a modern, safe, reliable and sustainable producer of food. The overwhelming majority of food sold in Australia is grown and supplied by Australian farmers.
Australia currently exports more agricultural products than we import, with around 70 per cent of Australia's total agricultural production sent overseas.
The U.S. is the world's top food exporter thanks to high crop yields and extensive agricultural infrastructure. Brazil is the world's fourth-largest food producer and second-largest importer; it is heavily dependent on imports by China.
The most recent exports are led by Iron Ore ($118B), Coal Briquettes ($54.3B), Petroleum Gas ($39.2B), Gold ($17.6B), and Wheat ($7.36B). The most common destination for the exports of Australia are China ($138B), Japan ($47B), South Korea ($29.4B), India ($20.5B), and Chinese Taipei ($13.2B).
Australia's exports are estimated to feed around 36.6 million people. When you add this figure to the population of the country, this means that Australian farmers feed around 61 million people overall. Breaking the figures down further, each Australian farmer produces sufficient food for 600 people for one year.
Water scarcity, heat stress and increased climatic variability in our most productive agricultural regions, such as the Murray Darling Basin, are key risks for our food security, economy, and dependent industries and communities.
Yet, to maintain consistent supply and satisfy year-round demand, Australia also needs to import a wide variety of food products into the country every year. Thanks to location-based analytics, you can determine where our food comes from by looking at our Story Map of the world.
1. Chicken parmigiana. This classic Aussie chicken dish – with roots in Italian-American cooking – is a staple offering at many pub menus in the country. Whether you call it a parmi/parmy or a parma (but never a parmo), there's huge debate about where does the best parmigiana in Australia.
With each person binning nearly 300 kilograms of food a year, Australia still sits in fourth position on the global food wastage rank.
The Sahel sits just below the Sahara Desert and has become one of the world's worst hunger emergencies. Around 13 million people are projected to be experiencing crisis levels of hunger across five Sahelian countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
Australia is in the midst of a potato shortage. It's caused cafés and resturants to become creative with their menus and one supermarket to introduce customer limits. Only around 70 per cent of the potatoes consumed in Australia are grown here.
Released today, the Foodbank Hunger Report 2022 reveals alarming details surrounding the food insecurity crisis the country is facing. More than 2 million households in Australia have run out of food in the last year due to limited finances, sometimes skipping meals or going whole days without eating.
Australia is the least self-sufficient economy in the developed world. A new report from The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work ranks Australia last among OECD countries for manufacturing self-sufficiency – the volume of goods manufactured versus the volume of manufactured goods used.
Weaponised food
Fertiliser prices rose by 199 per cent between May 2020 and the beginning of 2023. Prices have since fallen somewhat, but the WFP said this is more likely due to farmers simply being unable to afford stocks and resorting to alternatives – such as animal dung.
Sugar cane is the most produced food commodity in Australia followed by wheat & barley. Australia produces more than 32 million tonnes of sugar cane and 17 tonnes of wheat .
Australian consumers can be confident in our food security
Australia is one of the most food secure countries in the world, with ample supplies of safe, healthy food. The vast majority of our food is produced here in Australia, and domestic production more than meets our needs even during drought years.
It is estimated that 4% of Australians cannot access sufficient, safe and nutritious food. Food insecurity can be both a precursor to, and a by-product of, chronic disease and poverty. Patients who are food insecure may skip meals, eat cheap food and experience stress.
Evidence suggests Australians need to eat more:
wholegrain cereals. reduced fat milk, yoghurt, cheese. fish, seafood, poultry, eggs, legumes/beans (including soy), and nuts and seeds. red meat (young females only)
In 2021, Australia exported $782M to Russia. The main products exported from Australia to Russia were Aluminium Oxide ($640M), Peptones ($10.4M), and Stone Processing Machines ($8.14M).
Australia is known for many things, including swathes of tropical beaches, marine reserves, Aboriginal culture, cute koalas, rolling wine country, and lush rainforests.
China-Australia In 2021, China exported $70B to Australia. The main products that China exported to Australia are Computers ($4.97B), Broadcasting Equipment ($4.09B), and Other Furniture ($1.82B).