Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance

Fair food for all Australians

Why I’m with Fair Food Farmers United

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by Tammi Jonas, Jonai Farms & Meat smiths, 14 March 2014

What is fair food?

Who’s a fair food farmer, and why do we need Fair Food Farmers United – aren’t there enough advocacy bodies? And anyway, what exactly is fair food? The launch of the Fair Food Farmers United (FFFU) branch of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) this week raised a lot of questions and encouraged some good discussion around precisely these questions, which is exactly what we hoped for.

So first we should really drill into what we mean by ‘fair food’. I’m just one farmer of thousands in our vast country, so I’ll speak on behalf of myself and our family only, though my understanding of ‘fair food’ has been shaped and re-affirmed in numerous conversations with others. The simplest way I understand ‘fair food’ is that it’s fair ‘soil to stomach’. If we think soil to stomach, we’ve captured every element of the planet affected by growing, distributing, storing, cooking and eating food. Even the so-called waste products are captured as then we’re right back to soil.

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Tammi Jonas from Jonai Farms

What does ‘fair’ mean?

But what does ‘fair’ mean? To put it simply, I think of it just like I was taught as a kid – are you taking more than is your fair share? We can apply this kindergarten logic to soil health, livestock health and well being, farmer viability, supply chain employees’ wages, water and air health, people’s access to nutritious, delicious food and ultimately population health. Sure, in a complex supply chain the answer will be complicated, but avoiding complicated answers is part of what got us into this unfair food system in the first place… If you accept this view of what’s fair food, then a fair food farmer is simply someone growing food (and/or fibre) according to those principles – they’re working to be fair from soil to stomach. We all make mistakes, and we’re all trying to improve our systems all the time, and I reckon that’s part of being a fair food farmer too.

Why do we need Fair Food Farmers United?

Finally, why do we need Fair Food Farmers United? For me, it’s primarily a positive move for those of us focused on feeding Australia fairly to talk amongst ourselves – not to be talked ‘at’ – but to pool our collective wisdom and share what’s working well and what’s not. Whether it’s how we’re nourishing our soil, getting our products to a market that pays a fair price, or ensuring the food we sell is as nutritious and delicious as we can make it, we all have something to share from our own experiences. And once we’ve established what our biggest issues are, we can start to work towards solutions together. A focus on exports won’t get us there, and nor will a continued reliance on overly long supply chains that inevitably lead to just two massive retailers.

It’s time we stand at the farm gate, united, and do what we do best – feed Australia, fairly.

 

Extract on 'Fair Food' and the 'Fair Food Farmers United’ from Clover Hill Dairies ...

"We need to create partnerships right along our supply chain to develop relationships that enable farmers and consumers to make informed decisions about the trade-offs inherent in their choices and our production systems. Consumers have accepted $1 milk and cheap/imported food more generally, so it is up to agriculture to articulate and share why we don’t believe that is a choice that will deliver a sustainable future.

If consumers do not value farm output, then no amount of innovation, productivity gain or government support is going to deliver a sustainable industry into the future.

We need to reconnect with our consumers. Modern supply chains mean farmers have never been so isolated from their end-consumer.

Therefore we need to develop the capacity of our people, so they are knowledgeable and are comfortable in addressing all issues and stakeholders along the entire supply/value chain in order to re-build these relationships.

This will mean farmers and others working in agriculture taking a higher profile role in the lives of our consumers, current and future.

This will mean farmers proactively engaging with processors and supermarkets to develop mutually beneficial relationships ensuring value is delivered at all points along the supply/value chain – including farmers, processors, retailers and consumers.

The last thing we need is another advocacy group cluttering an already overcrowded space but I believe if Fair Food Farmers United get it right they are off to a great start with the key audience then they may just build the partnerships necessary to deliver an advocacy success story for agriculture.”

 

 

 

 

 

Letter to Politicians – August 2010

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Following is the text of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance letter to politicians distributed in August 2010…

Re: National food policy

Dear              ,

The undersigned organisations and individuals congratulate you on your recent announcement that Labor will implement a national food plan if re-elected.

Given the intimate relationship between contemporary agricultural production and the many urgent challenges we face, the development and implementation of a national food policy is a matter of the highest priority. This is true not only for every Australian now alive, but for all future generations of Australians.

In order for such a plan to be effective, the process of formulating it must be inclusive, participatory, and democratic. The inter-generational ramifications of this policy insist upon the need to set the highest standards in these respects. We believe that it is vital to include stakeholders and participants from across the food and agricultural system, and not only those with the largest economic influence.

The communities, organisations, alliances and enterprises we represent have proposed the need for state and national food policies in forums such as the Hungry for Change summit, held in Sydney in October 2009, and the Plains to Plate Convergence, held in Adelaide in February 2010. As we have been debating and undertaking practical actions in this field over many years, we have a valuable contribution to make to the successful formulation and implementation of a national food policy.

The strengths we bring to an open and participatory, consultative process are the diverse perspectives of consumer and community initiatives and the social enterprise sectors of the food and agricultural system.

In a time of considerable economic uncertainty, experience in the US and elsewhere is demonstrating that strong, local food economies are powerhouses of creativity, innovation and employment.

We believe that our extensive practical experience in these fields complements that of others participating in the process of developing a national food policy, ensuring a balance of views and creative ideas that will further the goal of creating a strong, sustainable and resilient food and agricultural system for Australia.

Policy must address emerging trends

We recognise that Australia’s food system faces emerging pressures stemming from climate change, insecurity of the agricultural water supply as well as the growing likelihood of the peaking of global oil production.

These and other factors, alone or in combination, are expected to force up food prices, perhaps significantly. Such considerations are an important context for the food-related issues the undersigned organisations and individuals are already addressing. These include ensuring equitable access to fresh food (particularly for low-income communities), food safety and quality, the loss of agricultural skills and knowledge as the age of the average Australian farmer passes 60, and the protection of agricultural land from urban sprawl and the extractive industries.

We believe that a national policy on food must address these topics as matters of equal priority to the macroeconomic considerations you have already indicated. The enterprises and community food initiatives we represent are themselves responses to some of these issues. They are a growing presence in the national food system.

Towards an inclusive national policy

Our close contact with communities reveals that households, individuals and community-based organisations seek an active role in the formulation and implementation of a national food policy framework. Thus we believe that the purpose of such a policy is not only that Australians have year-round access to a secure supply of safe, nutritious and affordable food, but also that their food is produced in ways that ensures the dignity of farmers and the integrity of our soils, water tables and ecosystems.

Our inclusion in the proposed formulation of a national food policy will ensure that the voices of tens of thousands of ordinary Australians who are working to create their own sustainable and resilient local food systems can be heard in this matter of vital national and global interest.

We firmly believe our inclusion will make the process more open, participatory and democratic and help ensure that it achieves its goal of advancing the wellbeing of all Australians, now and into the future.

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