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Objective: The South West Food Community (SWFC) project (2018) aimed to identify initiatives working to support food security in the South West region of Western Australia, and to enhance how these initiatives functioned as a system. The SWFC project used a Systemic Innovation Lab approach that, prior to this study, had not been evaluated. This evaluation aimed to: i) measure system transitions (changes) to initiatives; and ii) understand the challenges and successes associated with system transitions., Methods: SWFC initiative leaders (n=46) such as directors, managers or coordinators, volunteers or committee members were invited to participate in this evaluation. Fifteen stakeholders completed the telephone interviews (32% response rate)., Results: Twenty-five desirable changes in practice were observed. Challenge and success statements determined themes of 'participation' and 'bureaucracy'. Participation sub-themes included: limited time; poor initiative attendance; community support; organisational support; and effective partnerships. Bureaucracy sub-themes included: regulation or policy requirements; limited resources; and funding opportunities., Conclusion: The Australian-first SWFC project has the capacity to support region-to-region comparisons; this evaluation increases evidence for scaling to other regions. Implications for public health: This approach can be used to increase collaboration between initiatives, support resource-sharing between organisations and enhance policies (at local government level) to support food security., (© 2020 The Authors.)

Quality early care and education (ECE) presents an unparalleled opportunity to avert disadvantage and promote children's development. Mealtimes are essential daily routines, yet are often overlooked in research on ECE quality. This paper crystallises a composite case study of ECE mealtimes in highly disadvantaged communities by combining Departing Radically in Academic Writing (DRAW) methodology with parent surveys, scorings of educator‐child interactions (inCLASS), and field notes. Poverty is perpetuated in these centres: children do not have enough food, and educator‐dictated feeding practices restrict children's opportunities to exercise their agency and learn. Systemic policy action is needed to address poverty in ECE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Economically motivated food crimes are widespread, and it appears countries and consumers across the globe are affected. Foods targeted and ways of dealing with food crimes vary according to several factors, including the source and destination of the food; demand; availability (e.g. short growing season); price; environmental impacts, such as sustainability (e.g. seafood); likely consumers (e.g. babies); and regulatory controls. Internationally, several foods are well known to be commonly targeted by unscrupulous criminal groups, ultimately leaving unsuspecting consumers exposed economically and physiologically. The purpose of this paper is to understand the nature of food fraud and the criminals committing it. Design/methodology/approach: Building on a systematic search of international scholarly literature from a wide cross-section of disciplines, parliamentary documents and media articles relating to food crime, this paper cautions the vulnerabilities to food crimes in Australia from a criminological perspective. It draws on crime opportunity theory to explain the modus operandi of criminals engaging in food fraud. Findings: Inadequate testing regimes, unclear definitions and inadequate laws expose consumers and vulnerable industries to food crimes. With reference to uniquely Australian examples, this paper highlights exposure opportunities and concludes with lessons drawn internationally. Further research is underway to explore how these vulnerabilities can be resolved through closing regulatory gaps and the introduction of innovative technology. Originality/value: This paper usefully draws on trends in the literature and applies crime opportunity theory to understand how food fraud may present in Australia for everyday foods, as well as emerging and highly prized markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australia, and elsewhere, community food networks such as urban gardens, community supported agriculture, farmers' markets, organic cooperatives, food charities and "fair food" organizations are important civil society stakeholders who actively confront food system inequalities such as food insecurity and food waste. These organizations emphasize equitable access to food that is ecologically sustainable, healthy and fairly produced, exchanged and consumed (i.e. food justice). This differentiates them from mainstream food security approaches and provides a potentially progressive framework for thinking about alternative food futures. This paper presents a sociological analysis of community "fair food" initiatives in Brisbane, Australia as a means of expanding SDG2 Zero Hunger to encompass local priorities. Following the presentation of a broad typology of initiatives, the paper will analyze selected case studies in terms of their: (a) personal and collective visions for future food systems, and (b) activities and outcomes related to food justice and food access. How do these place-based narratives connect to global sustainability goals? Findings indicate that more equitable food access is pursued in missions and activities that seek to build and connect (a) values of food justice, sovereignty, citizenship, farmer-consumer solidarity, empowerment and community control of food systems, with (b) solving practical problems associated with local ecological food production, reduction or redistribution of food waste, providing low-cost food to vulnerable groups, and restructuring finance. Scaling up to influence policy and financing remains a key challenge. These initiatives demonstrate significant synergies between ecological, social and economic values that are central to localising the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia has a hidden but growing problem with household food insecurity, revealing the failure of conventional food infrastructures to support human flourishing. Disruptions to employment and livelihoods due to pandemic lockdowns have exacerbated household food insecurity, evincing the uneven geography of food access in countries globally, including Australia. Increasing demand for food relief had been observed prior to the COVID‐19 pandemic and has been met by food relief providers, which we consider as infrastructures of care addressing growing levels of hunger. This paper reveals COVID‐19's many impacts on the food relief sector across Metropolitan Sydney, New South Wales. It analyses both a questionnaire of food relief providers in 2022 and media articles, social media posts, reports, and websites. It provides much‐needed insights into the impacts of pandemic lockdowns on the demand for food, interruptions to food provisioning, changes to food supply, and alterations made to suppliers' ways of operating. Those insights show how infrastructures of care are place‐based, responsive, dynamic, and constrained by caring capacities. Such insights are increasingly important for understanding infrastructural failures, documenting the real extent of household food insecurity, and challenging dominant discourses of Australia as a food‐secure nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Commercial tobacco use was systematically embedded as a valuable commodity through colonisation that continues to be exploited for profit by the Tobacco Industry. There have been significant declines in current smoking prevalence among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 18 years and over, from 55% in 1994 to 43% in 2018–2019. This paper seeks to better understand smoke‐free behaviours, and to systematically quantify associations between a range of SDOH and non‐smoking/never‐smoking among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults (≥18) living in regional Australia. Objective: To explore the social determinants of health (SDOH) related to non‐ and never‐smoking among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in regional Australia. Design: Cross‐sectional analysis of the NATSIHS, weighted to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adult population living in regional Australia, was conducted. Participants were characterised as people who were current smokers, never‐smokers and non‐smokers (ex‐ and never‐smokers). The social determinants of health exposures related to socioeconomic position, well‐being and access to healthcare. Setting: Regional Australia is distinct from urban and remote areas, based on the ASGS Remoteness Structure (ABS) 2018–2019. Participants: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults (≥18 years) who were selected, consented and asked questions about smoking in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS 2018/19). Results: High income was associated with non‐smoking (Prevalence Ratio [PR] = 2.07; 95% CI: 1.66–2.57) and never‐smoking (PR = 2.02; 1.46–2.79), as was completing year 10 (non‐smoking PR = 1.34; 1.12–1.61 and never‐smoking PR = 1.56; 1.20–2.03). Better food security was associated with a higher prevalence of never‐smoking (PR = 2.42; 1.48–3.98). Lower psychological distress scores were associated with non‐smoking (PR = 1.30; 1.10–1.53) and never‐smoking (PR = 1.56; 1.21–2.01). Never‐smoking was more frequent in participants reporting no experiences of unfair treatment (PR = 1.59; 1.22–2.06). Having a usual healthcare provider was associated with non‐smoking (PR = 1.38; 1.02–1.86). Positive exposure to the SDOH were associated with non‐ and never‐smoking among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults in regional Australia. Structural and systemic changes to address the SDOH, including discrimination and racism, are expected to accelerate non‐smoking behaviours and improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is impacting people's lives, with management of water resources and food security being major concerns for the future of many countries. In this paper, future water availability, crop water needs, yields, market costs and returns of current crops in a case study area in Australia are evaluated under future climatic conditions. The predictive methods on which the work is based have the advantage of being robust—they are able to simultaneously consider many climate change models—giving greater confidence in determining what the future will hold in this regard. The results indicate business as usual, in terms of the quantity and types of crops that can be grown presently, will not be sustainable in the medium and long term future. Instead, modelling indicates that changes in production and land use to maximise revenue per megalitre of water will be needed to adapt to future conditions and deliver climate-smart agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australia, like many high-income countries, food insecurity is associated with increased risks of chronic diseases, sub-optimal development outcomes in children, and mental health conditions including depression and anxiety. Food insecure households employ a range of strategies, including the use of food charity, to help alleviate hunger and meet cost of living pressures. The aim of this paper is to investigate the lived experience of food insecurity for welfare-dependent households, and to examine these experiences within a structural violence framework. Structural violence investigations seek to understand the distal causal factors that can help explain poor health patterns and inequities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with customers (n = 78) of food pantries, soup kitchens, and community development programs (June 2018 to January 2019) in the state of Victoria, Australia. Thematic analysis established evidence of controlling, demeaning and depriving practices in the interactions between the participants and the services and staff at national welfare providers and food charities. The same providers and charities nominally set up to address the exact situations in which participants found themselves. The findings of this study suggest that food and social services are an on-the-ground setting through which structural violence is enacted and experienced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Affordability of healthy food is a key determinant of the diet-related health of First Nations Peoples. This systematic scoping review was commissioned by the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women's Council (NPYWC) in Central Australia to identify interventions to improve economic access to healthy food in First Nations communities in selected high-income, colonised countries. Methods: Eight databases and 22 websites were searched to identify studies of interventions and policies to improve economic access to healthy food in First Nations communities in Australia, Canada, the United States or New Zealand from 1996 to May 2022. Data from full text of articles meeting inclusion criteria were extracted to a spreadsheet. Results were collated by descriptive synthesis. Findings were examined with members of the NPYWC Anangu research team at a co-design workshop. Results: Thirty-five publications met criteria for inclusion, mostly set in Australia (37%) or the US (31%). Interventions (n = 21) were broadly categorised as price discounts on healthy food sold in communities (n = 7); direct subsidies to retail stores, suppliers and producers (n = 2); free healthy food and/or food vouchers provided to community members (n = 7); increased financial support to community members (n = 1); and other government strategies (n = 4). Promising initiatives were: providing a box of food and vouchers for fresh produce; prescriptions for fresh produce; provision/promotion of subsidised healthy meals and snacks in community stores; direct funds transfer for food for children; offering discounted healthy foods from a mobile van; and programs increasing access to traditional foods. Providing subsidies directly to retail stores, suppliers and producers was least effective. Identified enablers of effective programs included community co-design and empowerment; optimal promotion of the program; and targeting a wide range of healthy foods, particularly traditional foods where possible. Common barriers in the least successful programs included inadequate study duration; inadequate subsidies; lack of supporting resources and infrastructure for cooking, food preparation and storage; and imposition of the program on communities. Conclusions: The review identified 21 initiatives aimed at increasing affordability of healthy foods in First Nations communities, of which six were deemed promising. Five reflected the voices and experiences of members of the NPYWC Anangu research team and will be considered by communities for trial in Central Australia. Findings also highlight potential approaches to improve economic access to healthy foods in First Nations communities in other high-income colonised countries. Trial registration: PROSPERO CRD42022328326. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence, severity, coping strategies and precipitating factors of food insecurity in university students in a large multi‐campus Australian university during the COVID‐19 lockdown in 2020, in context of providing information to inform institutional support. This was a cross‐sectional analysis which was part of a larger university‐led research project, the Thrive@Home study conducted at Monash University during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The main outcome measures included: Sociodemographic characteristics, PROMIS anxiety, PROMIS depression and the six‐item US Department of Agriculture Household Food Security Survey Module. All variables were reported according to the four levels of food security status (high (H), marginal (M), low (L) and very low (VL)). Chi‐squared tests were used to compare all categorical variables including demographic, mental health and food security status. A multivariable regression was conducted between food security status and mental health variables. Overall, n = 1315 students were included in the analysis. Of which, 5% were classified as having VL food security, 13% L, 14% M and 68% H. As food security worsened the likelihood of being unemployed looking for work, living alone and deteriorating physical health, diet quality and mental health increased. As food security status deteriorated the prevalence of needing to ask family or friends for food, shopping at multiple outlets for discounts, accessing emergency food relief, subsidised meals and financial assistance from organisations increased (p < 0.002). In regression models adjusting for covariates, depression (b (95%CI): VL = 7.2(4.1–10.3), L = 3.7(1.7–5.7), M = 2.0(0.1–3.8)) and anxiety (VL = 7.4(4.5–10.4), L = 3.5(1.5–5.4) and M = 2.0(0.3–3.8)) were positively associated with worsening food security. Food insecurity during COVID‐19 was associated with worsening mental health. This paper provides targets for future university‐led initiatives to promote student food security and supporting better access to physical and mental health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperation in areas of science & technology is a crucial element in the India-Australia strategic partnership. Both countries have promoted research & innovation in the areas of biotechnology through research grants, exchange of scholars, visits of Indian scholars to Australian institutions, etc. Indo-Australian Biotechnology Fund for Collaborative Research Projects was established under the Indo-Australia innovations partnership. Research relating to Biotechnology in the fields of agriculture, food security, biomedical devices and implants, and marine sciences has been of prime focus in the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF). Research promotion in biological systems is one of the crucial areas in recent initiatives taken by both countries in advancing critical and emerging technologies. Today Indian agriculture & allied sectors face numerous challenges from climate change, drought, declining water levels, and substantial losses to crop pests, including insects, rodents, nematodes, fungal pathogens, bacteria, viruses, etc. Abiotic stresses like drought, extreme temperatures, salinity, and mineral toxicity negatively impact the growth of crops. New challenges, therefore, require energizing science diplomacy for greater collaboration with nations, which have developed scientific cultures and advanced systems of facilitating and nurturing innovations in the field of biotechnology and agriculture sciences. In the broader policy framework of science diplomacy, science & technology cooperation, including new technology for the agriculture sector, has been a crucial element of Prime Minister Modi's foreign policy. In addition to bilateral initiatives, the scope for India-Australia science & technology cooperation through multilateral formats such as G20 and Quad should be explored. In this context, the article analyses the India-Australia cooperation in biotechnology and how it can be further expanded in addressing new areas. The paper also analyses India-Australia cooperation and offers an overview of Indo-Australian Career Boosting Gold Fellowships from the Department of Biotechnology and first-hand research experience of La Trobe University, Melbourne, under the programme. IACBGF has been instrumental in widening the exposure and capacity building of independent young researchers working in the domain of biotechnology in Indian academic institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 2008 global food crisis, food security vulnerability has been a prominent topic in the food policy debate. However, vulnerability is inherently difficult to conceptualize and is more challenging to operationalize and measure. This study constructs a mathematical model and takes China as a case study to measure the vulnerability and sensitivity of China with its partners in the international grain trade. The results show that 1) the degree of interdependence between China and its grain trading partners is asymmetric, which generates trade vulnerability or economic power; 2) the vulnerability of China's food trade shows a high spatiotemporal heterogeneity among countries: the higher vulnerability zones are concentrated in North America and Northeast Asia, and the scope of the higher vulnerability zones tends to expand; 3) Our results also reveal that China also has different sensitivities to fluctuations in grain markets from different countries, and the higher sensitive zones of the grain trade in China are mainly distributed in America, Europe, and Oceania. The main contribution of this paper is the development of a methodology for food trade vulnerability assessment and examines the influence of international food trade on food security in importing countries, measured using the vulnerability index and sensitivity index. Nevertheless, the conclusions of this study can be considered preliminary, and there remains great potential for future studies to deepen and broaden our analyses further., Competing Interests: No authors have competing interests.

At present, certain paradoxes and fears related to food are observable in Australian urban planning. Despite general affluence, concerns have arisen in planning discourse around food scarcity, and more specifically, ‘food security’. This paper examines two key ways in which food security has been conceptualised within public debates in relation to urban planning: (1) food security and urban and peri-urban agriculture; and, (2) food security as consumer access to food, and particularly ‘healthy food’. It then goes on to develop arguments that these two dimensions of food security discourse can be seen, respectively, as an aspect of planning's management of risk in the context of uncertainty, and as an aspect of the management of freedom within liberal polities. In addressing such questions, the paper discusses the interplay of ongoing tensions between scarcity, fear, and affluence, certain normative values around food production within urban planning thought and practice, and effective planning strategy within liberal polities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food insecurity in Australia is on the rise, yet it remains a serious and underappreciated policy issue. The demand for and expansion of food banks, community agencies, and school breakfast programmes in Australia has led to the emergency food relief system being referred to as an "industry" in itself. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the associated financial crisis, have only exacerbated the challenge of putting food onto the table. These unprecedented challenges expose the vulnerabilities of addressing the problem of food insecurity solely through a charity-based approach. Through key case studies of innovative local food governance models across the globe, this paper calls attention to the need to break down the disconnected, siloed, and fragmented policies and responses across public and private spheres in order to design more comprehensive interventions that better address the complex reality of food insecurity in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers one explanation for the institutional basis of food insecurity in Australia, and argues that while alternative food networks and the food sovereignty movement perform a valuable function in building forms of social solidarity between urban consumers and rural producers, they currently make only a minor contribution to Australia's food and nutrition security. The paper begins by identifying two key drivers of food security: household incomes (on the demand side) and nutrition-sensitive, 'fair food' agriculture (on the supply side). We focus on this second driver and argue that healthy populations require an agricultural sector that delivers dietary diversity via a fair and sustainable food system. In order to understand why nutrition-sensitive, fair food agriculture is not flourishing in Australia we introduce the development economics theory of urban bias. According to this theory, governments support capital intensive rather than labour intensive agriculture in order to deliver cheap food alongside the transfer of public revenues gained from rural agriculture to urban infrastructure, where the majority of the voting public resides. We chart the unfolding of the Urban Bias across the twentieth century and its consolidation through neo-liberal orthodoxy, and argue that agricultural policies do little to sustain, let alone revitalize, rural and regional Australia. We conclude that by observing food system dynamics through a re-spatialized lens, Urban Bias Theory is valuable in highlighting rural-urban socio-economic and political economy tensions, particularly regarding food system sustainability. It also sheds light on the cultural economy tensions for alternative food networks as they move beyond niche markets to simultaneously support urban food security and sustainable rural livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide investments in agricultural land have gained much attention in recent years, resulting in renewed awareness of land as being a scarce and finite resource. This paper investigates a case of South-to-North land deals, namely investments from the Arab Gulf targeting agricultural land in Australia. For the Arab Gulf States that highly depend on external food supplies, investment abroad is one strategy to guarantee future food security. At the same time, leading Australian political and economic representatives have been eager to attract investments from the Gulf. Increasing foreign investment in Australian land has, however, provoked a vivid public debate in Australia. Concepts of foreign direct investment and its role are currently renegotiated on the federal level with regard to Australia's own food security, the ‘national interest’ and the redefinition of ‘Australian agricultural land’. While these concerns also play out on the local level, investments have to be seen within the wider context of Australian ruralities. The paper reveals how food security and commercial and financial interests intersect and become blurred within current transformations of the global agri-food system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although agriculture in Australia is very productive, the current food supply systems in Australia fail to deliver healthy diets to all Australians and fail to protect the natural resources on which they depend. The operation of the food systems creates 'collateral damage' to the natural environment including biodiversity loss. In coming decades, Australia's food supply systems will be increasingly challenged by resource price inflation and climate change. Australia exports more than half of its current agricultural production. Government and business are aiming to substantially increase production to bolster exports. This will increase pressure on agricultural resources and exacerbate 'collateral' damage to the environment. The Australian public have a deep and ongoing interest in a very wide range of issues associated with the food systems including the environment, health and sustainability. Food is something we require in order to live and a good diet is something we have to have to be healthy. For health over a life-time we need food security. However, we also require a range of other material goods and social arrangements in order to develop and flourish as human beings. And we need these other things to be secure over a life-time. Food is therefore one security among a range of other securities we need in order to flourish. The paper outlines a number of approaches, as examples, that help to identify what these other goods and arrangements might be. The approaches mentioned in this paper include human rights, national securities, human needs, authentic happiness, capabilities, sustainability and environmental ethics. The different approaches provide a way of evaluating the current situation and indicating a direction for change within the food systems that will address the problems. However, changing large systems such as those involved in food supply is difficult because inertias and vested interests make the current food supply systems resilient to change. The paper suggests that one of the first and ongoing tasks is to develop an understanding of the situation from a comprehensive social-ecological systems perspective. The paper also suggests that a practical leverage point for system change is restructuring the flow of information on the health, natural resources and biodiversity loss issues related to the food supply systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the global food crisis, China has been in the spotlight as a major actor in the global 'land grab'. In the context of Australia – a key target of Chinese investment – rising Chinese farmland ownership has provoked a contentious debate, eventually leading to a revision of Australia's foreign investment regime. The paper analyses how concerns over the assumed 'state-driven' and 'food security'-oriented nature of Chinese investment have been mobilized to tighten governmental scrutiny over foreign investment flows into Australian agriculture. I argue that the reregulation of Australia's foreign investment regime must be understood as part of a broader effort by Australian political and agribusiness interests to balance the opportunities and threats associated with China's rise as a key agri-food player. Ultimately, these controversies have precluded a substantial reflection upon the problematic productivist assumptions that characterize common understandings of who should own Australian farmland and to which ends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the food provisioning practices of low-income single mothers affected by market-driven welfare reforms in Australia. We explore the tensions between women's care responsibilities and the government's welfare-to-work reform, and the effects of these tensions on the nutritional health and wellbeing of women and their children. Conducting a thematic analysis of 20 interviews with single mothers receiving either Parenting Payment Single, Newstart Allowance (NSA), or the Disability Support Pension, we found that when women's income and time were significantly compromised, especially when women were transferred onto the less generous unemployment benefit NSA, that food provisioning became more psychologically taxing and nutritional health decreased. The findings suggest that public health researchers must focus on challenging the structural antecedents of women's food work and hunger to alleviate the responsibilities of single mothers in countries facing similar circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue Addressed: The Australian health promotion sector has made significant advances in food security over the years through recognition of social and economic factors. The incorporation of ecological determinants within health promotion practice to address food insecurity, however, is uncommon. This paper explores the potential of health promotion to use environmental sustainability principles to guide the development of health promotion food security programs in Australia.Methods: A mixed-methods approach guided by a pragmatic framework was adopted for this study. A national online survey (n = 61) and semi-structured interviews (n = 16) targeting Australian health promotion practitioners was utilised. Triangulation involved seven stages to develop points of convergence and corroboration of the data.Results: Practitioners were adopting principles of environmental sustainability such as ecological integrity and biodiversity protection to guide food security practice. The use of such principles demonstrates their compatibility within health promotion practice. This study, however, reveals that environmental sustainability principles were a relatively new area of practice for health promotion practitioners.Conclusion: The possibilities for integrating health promotion and environmental sustainability principles are promising for addressing multifaceted issues inherent within food security practice. At present, a lack of principles exist for guiding the sector to address food security that is cognisant of both human health and the environment. SO WHAT?: This study indicates a lack of integration between environmental sustainability and health promotion principles to guide food security practice. It would be pertinent for the sector to consider the development of a set of principles that considers both health promotion and environmental sustainability to ensure future food security and planetary health. Capacity building of current practitioners and pre-service graduates around the use of such principles to guide practice could assist the sector in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthy, fertile soil is the material of life itself. It is chemically, biologically and physically structured to support the growth of healthy, environmentally sustainable foods. Recent years have seen a resurgent focus on soil science in Australia. Yet, the influence of soil in the politics of food systems has received comparatively little attention, despite long awareness in farming communities of how the natural world shapes farmers’ choices and possible actions. Drawing on work with SoilCare, a Landcare group with a focus on soil processes in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, this paper explores the usefulness of approaching soil as an actor in food systems. Taking a participatory approach, and drawing on recent work on new materialisms, we argue that soil can be understood as an important ally in the struggle to shape a just and sustainable food system. While this work is intended to test this idea through a modest local case study, it may point to important new avenues for investigation in food politics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Like many high‐income countries, in Australia there are a range of programmes in place, from social security to food banks, to help address food insecurity. So far, they have been unable to adequately alleviate and prevent this growing nutrition challenge. This paper presents an evaluation of a new type of intervention in the food security landscape, the social enterprise. The Community Grocer is a social enterprise that operates weekly fresh fruit and vegetable markets in Melbourne, Australia. The aim of the study was to examine the market's ability to increase access, use and availability of nutritious food in a socially acceptable way, for low socioeconomic status urban‐dwelling individuals. The mixed‐method evaluation included: comparative price audits (n = 27) at local (<1 km) stores; analysis of operational data from sample markets (n = 3); customer surveys (n = 91) and customer interviews (n = 12), collected in two phases (Autumn 2017, Summer 2018). The results found common (n = 10) fruit and vegetables cost, on average, approximately 40% less at the social enterprise, than local stores. Over twenty per cent of customers were food insecure and 80% of households were low income. Thirty‐four different nationalities shopped at the market, and just over half (54%) shopped there weekly. More than 50 types of vegetables and fruit were available to purchase, varying for cultural preferences and seasonality, which supported variety and choice. Overall, this enterprise promotes food security in a localised area through low‐cost, convenient, dignified and nutritious offerings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite strong empirical support for the association between perceived food affordability and dietary intake amongst families with a lower socioeconomic position (SEP), there is limited evidence of the most effective strategies for promoting more positive perceptions of healthy food affordability among this group. This paper reports findings from a pilot intervention that aimed to improve perceptions of healthy food affordability amongst mothers. Findings: Participants were 66 mothers who were the parents of children recruited from primary schools located in socioeconomically disadvantaged suburbs. Intervention group participants viewed a slideshow focussed on healthy snack food affordability that illustrated cheaper healthier alternatives to common snack foods as well as food budgeting tips and price comparison education. A mixed between-within ANCOVA was conducted to examine group differences in perceived affordability of healthy food across three time points. Results revealed no difference in perceived affordability of healthy food between the two groups at baseline whereas at post-intervention and follow-up, mothers in the intervention group perceived healthy food as more affordable than the control group. Conclusions: Focussing on education-based interventions to improve perceptions of healthy food affordability may be a promising approach that complements existing nutrition promotion strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid economy research in remote Indigenous Australia is what Gibson-Graham [2008. Diverse economies: performative practices for “other worlds”.Progress in Human Geography, 32 (5), 613–632] describe as a performative ontological project. This research seeks to address the marginalisation of customary economic activities that contribute to the well-being of Indigenous Australians. It aims to make the customary sector more real, more credible and more viable as an object of policy and activism, challenging the dual dominance of the state and the market as the focus of development (cf.Gibson-Graham 2008). This paper outlines how hybrid economy research has sought to broaden views of the economic landscape in remote Indigenous Australia amid the withdrawal of key policy and programmatic support by the Australian Government. This research draws on Canadian national surveys of Indigenous peoples, harvest studies and programmatic support for customary harvest – hunting, fishing and gathering of bush foods – to identify ways in which the Australian Government might better see and support Indigenous community food economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Design thinking is an iterative process that innovates solutions through a person‐centric approach and is increasingly used across health contexts. The person‐centric approach lends itself to working with groups with complex needs. One such group is families experiencing economic hardship, who are vulnerable to food insecurity and face challenges with child feeding. Objective: This study describes the application of a design thinking framework, utilizing mixed methods, including co‐design, to develop a responsive child‐feeding intervention for Australian families—'Eat, Learn, Grow'. Methods: Guided by the five stages of design thinking, which comprises empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing. We engaged with parents/caregivers of a child aged 6 months to 3 years through co‐design workshops (n = 13), direct observation of mealtimes (n = 10), a cross‐sectional survey (n = 213) and semistructured interviews (n = 29). Findings across these methods were synthesized using affinity mapping to clarify the intervention parameters. Parent user testing (n = 12) was conducted online with intervention prototypes to determine acceptability and accessibility. A co‐design workshop with child health experts (n = 9) was then undertaken to review and co‐design content for the final intervention. Results: Through the design thinking process, an innovative digital child‐feeding intervention was created. This intervention utilized a mobile‐first design and consisted of a series of short and interactive modules that used a learning technology tool. The design is based on the concept of microlearning and responds to participants' preferences for visual, brief and plain language information accessed via a mobile phone. User testing sessions with parents and the expert co‐design workshop indicated that the intervention was highly acceptable. Conclusions: Design thinking encourages researchers to approach problems creatively and to design health interventions that align with participant needs. Applying mixed methods—including co‐design— within this framework allows for a better understanding of user contexts, preferences and priorities, ensuring solutions are more acceptable and likely to be engaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous papers in this issue of Economic Papers have dealt with some substantive issues surrounding food security. The purpose of this article was different. We provide a general commentary on other Australian agricultural policy issues where the rhetoric of food security is used to exaggerate the challenges faced and/or to support solutions to some challenges that are expensive and unrealistic. This article comprises opinion based on historical observations of the agricultural policy process in Australia and the underlying principles of mainstream agricultural economics. It does not offer detailed empirical analysis of the issues discussed. The issues discussed are irrigation in the Murray-Darling Basin, prospects for agricultural production in northern Australia, especially irrigation development, the bias in favour of further processing of agricultural products (value adding), food imports and foreign ownership, and the effects of Asian economic development on Australian agriculture and agricultural trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children have been made a priority in Australian government obesity interventions, with programmes tending to focus on promoting behaviour change in food and exercise practices. This paper reports findings from ethnographic research with a group of Australian children aged 10–14 years living in a low socio-economic suburban setting. We propose that central to these children’s experiences of food and eating is the negotiation and management of hunger. Historically, disadvantage has been embodied and inscribed on children’s bodies in very visible ways, and the coexistence of hunger and obesity is part of this continuum. Despite considerable evidence of food insecurity in our research site, issues of hunger were absent in an obesity intervention underway at the time. We examine how hunger was felt in children’s lives, how it was managed and the ways in which messages about eating less, while eating more ‘healthy foods’, were at odds with the children’s experiences of hunger. Moreover, we argue that hunger and obesity in this context were doubly stigmatised, as children were very aware of how their hunger and their bodies marked them as different and disadvantaged. Attention to both the embodied and social impacts of hunger on children and their everyday relationships is key in formulating more sensitive, contextualised public health interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite there being considerable research and knowledge surrounding the risks of climate change on agricultural productivity, fewer studies have examined risks from a whole-of-chain perspective (i.e. from producer to consumer) and the perceptions of consumers about the climate adaptation strategies of food businesses. This paper presents the findings of a survey of 1532 Australian consumers and how they might respond to a food company's climate adaptation strategy. Three respondent archetypes, ' Eco-warriors' ( n = 557), ' Undecideds' ( n = 600) and ' Abdicators' ( n = 375), were identified based on their perceptions of risks associated with climate change and their attitudes towards climate adaptation. Further analysis was carried out to understand how each group of respondents would respond to adaptation strategies employed by food companies. Based on the findings of this study, two main challenges are presented for food value chains: (1) translating consumer needs and preferences to niche opportunities arising from adaptation and (2) understanding how best to communicate adaptation benefits based on varying attitudes and information needs. By addressing these challenges, synergies between adaptation goals and competitive strategies in food value chains may be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is a wealthy country; however, available evidence suggests that food security among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples has not yet been achieved. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in remote, regional, and urban parts of Australia experience food insecurity for a number of reasons that usually include low income and a lack of access to affordable and healthy food. The much higher rate of illness and disease that this population experiences compared to non-indigenous Australians is directly related to food insecurity. This paper examines the food insecurity among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recent Australian government efforts to combat this problem. The paper first considers what constitutes a human rights-based approach to achieving food security. Second, it describes the food insecurity that currently exists among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the three pillars of food access, food availability, and food use. Third, the paper critically examines recent and current Australian government policy aimed at improving food security. The paper concludes with some reflections regarding how the Australian government can improve its [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The right to food security has been recognised internationally, and nationally in Australia by Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations. This study aims to explore food (in)security and solutions for improvement of food security in remote Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia, from the perspective of caregivers of children within the context of the family using photovoice. Participants took part in workshops discussing participant photographs of food (in)security, including solutions. Themes and sub-themes with associated solutions included traditional food use, sharing as a part of culture, the cost of healthy food, energy and transport, and housing and income. Community leaders used these data in setting priorities for advocacy to improve food security in their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feral animals are commonly constructed as the scourge of the Australian landscape. The transgressive act of introduced, domestic animals going wild elicits strong emotive responses within the community, often conceived in a kind of Freudian spectre of das unheimliche (the uncanny/ unhomely), as the once familiar becomes uncontrolled, strange and frightening. Meanwhile, exponential global growth in human populations, and the resulting strain on the environment and food security, is necessitating the rethinking of meat consumption. In Australia, while the stigma surrounding feral animals has historically inhibited their consumption, feral meat is regarded by a growing body of advocates as an environmentally favourable alternative to farmed meat, allowing not only the avoidance of animal suffering within the industrial agriculture model, but also benefitting ecosystems through the removal of damage-wreaking interlopers. This paper explores the feral turn and its contemporary manifestations as a growing food movement in Melbourne. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides new insights into the food security performance of long and short food chains, through an analysis of the resilience of such chains during the severe weather events that occurred in the Australian State of Queensland in early 2011. Widespread flooding cut roads and highways, isolated towns, and resulted in the deaths of people and animals. Farmlands were inundated and there were food shortages in many towns. We found clear evidence that the supermarket-based (long) food chain delivery system experienced significant difficulties in supplying food to flood-affected towns. In contrast, more localized (short) food supply chains-which relied upon supply from growers in peri-urban areas and community-based food initiatives-remained largely intact, and provided food at a time when the supermarkets were limited in their ability to respond to consumer demand. However, on closer examination of food distribution during flooding in the regional city of Rockhampton and in the State capital, Brisbane, the demarcation of success between 'long' and 'short' food chains became blurred. Both types of food supply chains shared some key resilience characteristics in responding to crisis but diverged in other important ways. We argue that conceptualizing food chains in terms of key elements of resilience-scale, diversity, flexibility and cohesion-may be more fruitful than the short-long dichotomy alone. This approach is particularly useful when prioritizing food security as the basis for evaluating food system sustainability in a context of predicted increases in extreme weather events and future climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the renewed emphasis on higher education as an agent for development and economic growth, Australia has joined other Western countries in contributing to increasing the intellectual workforce of Africa1. While Australia has provided scholarships to Africans for more than three decades, since 2005, the Australian Government has dramatically increased its commitment to invest in Africa's future by providing a series of development awards scholarships for Africans to advance their learning in priority areas including agriculture, food security, water and sanitation, public health, energy and resource management. These scholarships are the largest component of Australia's total aid to Africa. However, very little empirical research has been done to determine the impact of Australia Africa Long Term scholarship awards (AALT). This paper examines this new African intellectual workforce by presenting qualitative data from alumni engaging in this new flow of knowledge mobility. Experiences of public health graduates of Australia scholarship awards from Uganda and Mozambique will be discussed. Overall, we argue that that the Australia Africa scholarships program has a positive impact on alumni and is viewed favourably by alumni's employers and their families. However, there are many challenges and struggles which can impede alumni's success in bringing forth the change they might envisage. Some of these factors include: finding a job at a suitable level, implementing their new knowledge, using their new skills and, generally, reintegrating into their home country (both socially and professionally). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing involvement of financial actors in food production has been one of the major recent transformations in the global agri-food system. This 'financialization' of the agri-food sector has been observed at various levels, from commodity speculation to direct investment in agricultural production, along with farmland itself. While there has been concerted effort to track new landownership and control associated with financial actors, especially in the Global South, there has been less impetus to examine the motives of financial actors' engagement in food production and the narratives upon which such engagement is based. This paper examines the way in which a productivist food (in)security discourse is employed by financial actors to legitimate their actions and to position themselves to win public approval. We analyse two cases of agri-finance investors in the Australian context engaged in the discourse of food (in)security in relation to their agricultural investments - the Macquarie Group and Hassad Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vitamin B12 deficiency is prevalent in many countries of origin of refugees. Using a threshold of 5% above which a prevalence of low Vitamin B12 is indicative of a population health problem, we hypothesised that Vitamin B12 deficiency exceeds this threshold among newly-arrived refugees resettling in Australia, and is higher among women due to their increased risk of food insecurity. This paper reports Vitamin B12 levels in a large cohort of newly arrived refugees in five Australian states and territories. Methods: In a cross-sectional descriptive study, we collected Vitamin B12, folate and haematological indices on all refugees (n = 916; response rate 94% of eligible population) who had been in Australia for less than one year, and attended one of the collaborating health services between July 2010 and July 2011. Results: 16.5% of participants had Vitamin B12 deficiency (<150 pmol/L). One-third of participants from Iran and Bhutan, and one-quarter of participants from Afghanistan had Vitamin B12 deficiency. Contrary to our hypothesis, low Vitamin B12 levels were more prevalent in males than females. A higher prevalence of low Vitamin B12 was also reported in older age groups in some countries. The sensitivity of macrocytosis in detecting Vitamin B12 deficiency was only 4.6%. Conclusion: Vitamin B12 deficiency is an important population health issue in newly-arrived refugees from many countries. All newly-arrived refugees should be tested for Vitamin B12 deficiency. Ongoing research should investigate causes, treatment, and ways to mitigate food insecurity, and the contribution of such measures to enhancing the health of the refugee communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food security debates have only recently emerged in Australia with the prediction that Australia's population could reach 35 million by 2050. In a country with limited productive arable land and a heavy reliance on inputs, the question is raised: ‘Can and should Australia continue to export food and feed itself in the face of changes in the use and ownership of agricultural land, tighter water regulations, increasing input costs, declining numbers of farmers and rural labour, environmental degradation and a changing climate?’ This paper examines the relative importance of these changes, using current information and future scenarios. A brief introduction to Australian agriculture describes the current production and trade environment. Land use and social and environmental changes are then analysed in terms of their impact on the role and future productive capacity of Australian agriculture. We conclude that despite recent declines in farmer populations, available agricultural land and water restrictions, Australia will continue to produce enough food for domestic and export markets at least in the short term with import substitutions as required. Longer term food security for Australia and its trade partners is likely to be threatened by climate impacts (e.g. droughts, flooding and cyclones), lack of planning controls over urban development and mining on productive land, shortages of skilled labour and underinvestment in agricultural research and development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper outlines the development of a model for an Indigenous peer mentoring program. The aim of this program is to improve the health of Indigenous people living in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Although the benefits of peer mentoring are well documented, particularly in relation to disease prevention, little has been written about the specific benefits for Indigenous people. While developing this model, it became apparent that to be successful, peer mentoring programs for Indigenous people need to be flexible, informal and draw on the knowledge and skills of the local community in partnership with local services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supply of water for cities and for food production will not be a major factor limiting the growth of Australia's population in coming decades. The water needed to sustain the population of Australia can be divided into two kinds. Direct water requirements are those that meet the immediate needs of the people - potable water supply and waste removal. Indirect water requirements refer to the water needed to sustain the economy and the standard of living - food production, manufacturing, mining, etc. Agriculture is the largest indirect user, using between 50% and 70%, while household use, including sewerage and drainage, uses less than 30%. Industry uses the remaining 20%. In this paper, we do not deal with the issue of water quality but note its significance, especially as regards the salinisation of water resources in rural Australia. Australia has abundant water when expressed on a per capita basis, although this is unevenly distributed around the continent. Per capita, the densely populated south-eastern and south-western parts of the continent have low to average run-off available when compared with other populated regions of the world. What is more important is the extreme inter-annual variability of that run-off. Previous attempts to measure the size of the population that could be supported in Australia, based on the availability of water, have produced estimates up to 280 million. Outside of the well-watered edges of the continent, water has always been seen as a factor that limits Australia's population. However, water supply is a necessary but not sufficient basis for population growth, as can be seen from examples (such as the Ord Irrigation Scheme) where providing abundant water has failed to trigger major population growth. The largest increases in population in coming decades are predicted to occur in the capital cities where there has been a substantial reduction in water use through demand management in recent years. Urban water demand has proven to be extremely elastic. New sources of urban water, including desalination, groundwater, recycled sewage, and increased run-off in urban stormwater, will easily provide sufficient water for a growing urban population over coming decades. Water used in irrigated agriculture at present supplies the needs of Australia's 20 million people and an estimated 40 million in other countries. With increased efficiency in the delivery and use of water for irrigation combined with export substitution, water for food production is not likely to limit population. In this paper, we have not dealt with the issue of environmental flows in rivers or with the provision of water to wetlands, although we acknowledge that they are both significant issues for policy development. We conclude that the size of the population of Australia is less important than how that population behaves in regard to the management of water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generations of Australians, especially those who live in rural or remote areas, have struggled to better understand, manage, and adapt to Australia's unique environmental conditions. Increased awareness of pressures and impacts of population growth has renewed the long-standing debate on the nation's capacity to sustainably manage natural resources. Since 2002, the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists has been active in debates linking science and public policy with a declared intent to inform decision-makers on ways to adapt to changing Australian environmental conditions, assuming a growing population. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the population policy debate from the perspective of an entity that has as its prime objective to improve the nation's capacity to adapt to these changing conditions by influencing public policy on natural resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores media reporting of the rising food costs in five Australian newspapers in the 12 month period from 1st September 2007 to 31st August 2008. This period encompassed a Federal election in which rising food costs were identified as an election issue and a national inquiry into grocery pricing established to honour pre-election promises. Content analysis of newspaper articles demonstrates an increasing interest in the print media in food prices at this time, with thematic analysis revealing the dominance of political concerns and the economic fears of the Australian public. This paper explores these issues. It compares the rhetoric and reality of rising food costs through reporting of the causes and impact of increased food prices and explores the apportioning of blame for rising food prices and the solutions which arise from this through media reporting of political and personal strategies for managing the risk of food insecurity. The paper will also identify the social processes that contributed to the newsworthiness of rising food costs at this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives This paper aims to discuss and explore food security in the context of community health nursing, to provide insight about how frontline workers may identify whether their client is food secure. Design A qualitative descriptive design pilot study, using questionnaire and unstructured interviews. Setting Community health services across Sydney. Subject How community health nurses identify whether their client is food secure. Method Three community health nurses were interviewed and their responses recorded. Two student nurses participated in a focus group during professional work experience in community health. Findings/Results Although community health nurses claim they can identify whether their clients are food (in)secure, it remains unclear how they operationalise this claim, and indeed if they do, what the outcome may be for their clients' health determinants. Primary argument To raise awareness and stimulate discussion about food security as a social determinant of health, and whether community nurses have a role identifying client food security. Conclusion Food (in)security is increasingly recognised as a social determinant of health, with evidence that the prevalence of food insecurity is increasing in Australia. It is acknowledged that community health nurses have established professional relationships with their clients, and that food insecurity may be identified though formal and informal means. A more open discussion is required about food (in)security and potential ways in which it may be discussed in nonjudgemental, sensitive ways. Further investigation is required to interview community health nurses, in the context of their relationships with clients, how they establish whether food security is occurring and being maintained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People from refugee backgrounds generally have long and stressful journeys that involve involuntarily fleeing their homes and often include dislocation from family and friends. Food is integral to settlement when arriving in a destination country, as it is entwined with self-identity, culture, and connectedness to family and community. The aim of this study was to understand the facilitators and barriers of accessing cultural foods during the settlement journey for families with a refugee background, from the perspectives of workers who support the settlement journey. The study used participatory action research methodology to conduct focus groups with settlement and other workers who regularly interacted with people from refugee backgrounds, spoke English, and preferably self-identified with a refugee background. Participants were recruited through community organisations in Brisbane, Australia, and focus groups were held at workplaces or online. Eight focus groups (n = 32) were conducted between June and October 2021. The main theme was that food security, culture, and mental health were interrelated. When cultural food access, culture, or mental health were maintained or adversely impacted, all three factors were likewise affected. The behaviours around purchasing cultural foods were motivated by the desire to express and validate culture, which in turn improved mental health. It was also found that individual and community support systems sustained access to cultural foods, while social, environmental, institutional, and political structures impacted this access, sometimes detrimentally. This study highlights the need for interventions that foster social capital for families with refugee backgrounds and consider food security, culture, and mental health collectively. In addition, there is a need for increased awareness of the settlement journey, and for cultural inclusivity to be integrated into government policies, by working with communities and providing opportunities for people to express their culture, improve access to cultural foods, and maintain mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent changes to Australia's welfare system have affected low-income single parent families, with many moved on to an employment seeker's payment (a reduced payment) when the policy change made them ineligible for a family payment. To explore the impacts of this policy change, in-depth interviews were conducted with 23 low-income single mothers across Australia. This paper focuses on the health and wellbeing impacts of the decreased payment on food choices and behaviours. This study suggests that food had become an expense that could be tightly managed, limited, or foregone for these families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explores the barriers to food security for vulnerable women from the perspective of charity managers within the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Region. Interviews were conducted with six charity managers. Analysis of charity's perspectives identified nine themes across two overarching areas: barriers to charity providing food security services (charity accessibility, inter-charity support and charity reliance on donations) and barriers to women attaining food security (income, accommodation type, transport, women's attitudes and beliefs, stigma/trust and food literacy). Understanding the barriers to women's food security is essential in addressing the underlying social and economic issues creating food insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cross-sectional study examined the experiences of people accessing Emergency Food Relief (EFR) in the regional city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, including determinants, impacts of food insecurity, and service delivery recommendations. The forty-one item survey examined demographics, food security status (six-item adult US-Household Food Security Survey Module), food acquisition, use of charitable food services, and self-rated health. Adults n = 100 accessing meal programs and/or EFR services from three EFR organisations in 2018 were surveyed. Ninety-seven percent of participants received government social security payments. Food insecurity prevalence was 92% (USDA-HFSSM 6 item); of these, 63% were experiencing very low food security. Over half (54%) of households with children (n = 26) reported being sometimes unable to feed their children balanced meals and 50% indicated that they were not eating enough. Participants (47%) relied on EFR services for food between one and five years. Poor self-rated dental health was expressed by over 50% of participants and 97% indicated the importance for services to provide healthy food. Food insecurity prevalence was high and chronic among adults receiving EFR services in a large regional Australian city. Recipients' poor dental health, chronicity of use of services for food assistance, and calls for healthier food suggest more was needed to secure pathways out of food insecurity. The chronicity of reliance on EFR is a concern. The results of this study are likely to be of interest to providers and funders of EFR, policy makers, academics, and client advocates. Whilst the provision of EFR is not a sustainable solution to the problem of food insecurity, scope exists to improve service delivery to uphold principles of dignity, choice, and access to nutritious food. Furthermore, this highlights that the key strategies to mitigate food insecurity lie beyond simply feeding people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global understanding of past food systems is based on many lines of evidence, involving complex multidisciplinary contributions. It has long been considered that since Australia's first colonisation, now dated to 65,000 years ago, its peoples were supported largely through foraging as opposed to farming. Recent research has challenged that perspective, contentiously proposing that Australia's first nations peoples developed agricultural systems before European colonisation. This proposal has been subject to significant critique, but support of the food-producing nature of Aboriginal society has been boosted by new multi-disciplinary evidence for early aquaculture and possibly cultivation, as well as for the translocation of plants though trans-continental trade systems. While this analysis has generated new discussion and debate, it has also highlighted systemic empirical biases; archaeological data for pre-European plant exploitation remains sparse, and we consistently rely on potentially unrepresentative and historically shallow ethnographic information to fill that gap. We argue that by employing collaborative transdisciplinary research that incorporates Western scientific and Indigenous knowledge pathways, we can more effectively explore the diverse and complex nature of Aboriginal foodways in Australia's past, from the earliest human arrivals to its current mosaic of different food systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social determinants of health affect an individual's capacity to cope during a crisis such as the COVID‐19 pandemic which could potentially impact their well‐being. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between well‐being and the social determinants of health among Australian adults during the COVID‐19 pandemic. A cross‐sectional study of adults residing in Australia was conducted using SurveyMonkey between 20 August and 14 October 2020. Participants were recruited via social media. Well‐being was measured using the 10‐item Multicultural Quality of Life Index and social determinants of health were measured using validated tools and investigator developed questions. Data were analysed using SPSS version 25. Inferential statistics, including independent t‐test and one‐way ANOVA, were undertaken. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the predictors of well‐being. In total, 1211 responses were received. Females accounted for 80.7% of the responses, men 16.7% and transgender/non‐binary 2.6%. The mean age of the respondents was 43 years (SD 14.2). The mean score for total well‐being was 62.58 (SD 21.22). The significant predictors of higher well‐being were housing security (p = 0.000), food security (p = 0.000), social support (p = 0.000) and access to healthcare (p = 0.000). This study demonstrates that those with poor social support, difficulty accessing healthcare, insecure housing and food insecurity had significantly poorer well‐being during the COVID‐19 pandemic. It shows that the COVID‐19 pandemic has exacerbated social vulnerabilities and highlights the need for action to address the social determinants of health and inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of food security is often anchored in popular understandings of the challenge to produce and supply enough food. However, decades of policies for intensive agriculture have not alleviated hunger and malnutrition, with an absence of food security featuring in both economically developing and developed nations. Despite perceptions that the economic growth in advanced, capitalist societies will ensure freedom from hunger, this is not universal across so-called ‘wealthy nations’. To explore the dynamics of food security in economically developed countries, this paper considers institutional approaches to domestic food security primarily through responses to poverty and welfare entitlements, and, secondarily, through food relief. Through the lens of social entitlements to food and their formation under various expressions of welfare capitalism, we highlight how the specific institutional settings of two economically developed nations, Australia and Norway, respond to uncertain or insufficient access to food. Whilst Norway's political agenda on agricultural support, food pricing regulation and universal social security support offers a robust, although indirect, safety net in ensuring entitlements to food, Australia's neoliberal trajectory means that approaches to food security are ad hoc and rely on a combination of self-help, charitable and market responses. Despite its extensive food production Australia appears less capable of ensuring food security for all its inhabitants compared to the highly import-dependent Norway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]