The third key aspect is fairness – that we’re producing <strong>food</strong> in such a way that it’sviable for farmers to stay on the l<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> continue producing that <strong>food</strong>. Fairnessdoesn’t often come into the definition of <strong>food</strong> <strong>security</strong>, but if you want long-term<strong>food</strong> <strong>security</strong> <strong>and</strong> a resilient system, then you actually need to be paying peopleto stay on the l<strong>and</strong>. There’s so many farmers leaving the l<strong>and</strong> at the moment,that’s a real issue, <strong>and</strong> should be seen as a really core element of <strong>food</strong> <strong>security</strong>[Academic researcher].Academic researchers we spoke to were especially concerned about the issues ofenvironmental sustainability, <strong>climate</strong> <strong>and</strong> resource <strong>resilience</strong>, <strong>and</strong> fairness. Oneexperienced academic offered this multi-dimensional conceptualisation:Food <strong>security</strong> is about sufficient, equitably accessible <strong>and</strong> sustainable <strong>food</strong>.Sustainability in this context means <strong>food</strong> produced in such a way that doesn’tundermine the ability of future generations to meet their own <strong>food</strong> needs. That’sreally important, <strong>and</strong> isn’t talked about enough, especially in relation to water <strong>and</strong>l<strong>and</strong> issues, on the peri-<strong>urban</strong> fringe ...The third key aspect is fairness – that we’re producing <strong>food</strong> in such a way that it’sviable for farmers to stay on the l<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> continue producing that <strong>food</strong>. Andwe’re not currently doing that [Academic researcher].Similar comments about conventional definitions of <strong>food</strong> <strong>security</strong> were made by othersin the community sector that might be regarded as part of the broader ‘fair <strong>food</strong>movement’. One commented that ‘<strong>food</strong> <strong>security</strong> sounds very official, <strong>and</strong> a lot of peopledon’t relate to that’. Another said ‘<strong>food</strong> <strong>security</strong> can put some people off – peopleunderst<strong>and</strong> growing your own, being healthy, being sustainable, <strong>and</strong> that’s the sort oflanguage we use’.One of the backyard gardeners <strong>and</strong> community <strong>food</strong> activists with whom we spokehighlighted the concepts of control <strong>and</strong> self-sufficiency in her underst<strong>and</strong>ing of <strong>food</strong><strong>security</strong>:[Food <strong>security</strong>] means having control over my own <strong>food</strong>, knowing I’m going tohave continued access to it. Self-sufficiency is not quite my aim. I want to providefor as much of my own needs as I can, but I don’t think total self-sufficiency is arealistic objective. Our aim is not to have buy any fruit <strong>and</strong> vegetables during thesummer <strong>and</strong> autumn [Permaculturalist <strong>and</strong> backyard gardener].4.2.2 How is <strong>food</strong> <strong>security</strong> likely to be impacted by <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong>?Amongst the small sample of commercial farmers <strong>and</strong> growers we spoke with, therewas generally a degree of scepticism about the empirical reality of anthropogenic<strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong>. This appears to be reflected also in the current Victorian <strong>and</strong>Queensl<strong>and</strong> administrations, with interviewees reporting a strong strain of <strong>climate</strong>scepticism <strong>and</strong> even denial amongst leading politicians. By contrast, <strong>urban</strong> agriculturalpractitioners <strong>and</strong> researchers with whom we spoke firmly believed that <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong>would affect <strong>food</strong> production in Victoria, especially in the northern <strong>food</strong> bowl region ofthe Murray Darling Basin. We were not able to speak with as many similar practitionersin Queensl<strong>and</strong>.<strong>Urban</strong> <strong>food</strong> <strong>security</strong>, <strong>urban</strong> <strong>resilience</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong> 35
The research revealed that there is, as expected, a mixed reaction towards theexistence <strong>and</strong> the impacts of <strong>climate</strong> on <strong>food</strong> <strong>security</strong> (or <strong>food</strong> production) in Australia.Ranging from politicians, to commercial farmers to hobby gardeners, <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong>scepticism <strong>and</strong> even denialism was evident. One of the most concerning revelationswas the perceived lack of concern about <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong> among some politicians:In their [politicians] worldview, <strong>climate</strong> variability, resource constraints, l<strong>and</strong> useconflicts, none of that figures into their calculations. In general, they are <strong>climate</strong><strong>change</strong> deniers. Climate <strong>change</strong> is an economic problem … [<strong>and</strong>] now we’rebasically not talking about it at all, it’s fallen to the wayside...to the point that theyhave even cut the <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong> unit in DPC … [but] this wave of denialism,<strong>and</strong> anti-science, is not unique in Victoria, it’s across Australia [State GovernmentEmployee].The recently elected Mayor of the Gold Coast, whilst not rejecting scientific evidenceabout <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong>, has been reported recently as saying that it is simply too faraway in time for him to be concerned about sea level rise:I don't intend to use our ratepayers' funds for something that is going to happenin 90 years. It may or may not be wiped out ... I live on the water <strong>and</strong> what mayhappen to my house in 90 years is not my concern. (Gold Coast Bulletin, 27/9/12)Many commercial <strong>and</strong> hobby farmers expressed their disregard for <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong>,often suggesting that this was a natural event. For example, an older dairy farmer fromthe Mornington Peninsula, who began farming in 1973, expressed his disdain towards<strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong>:The <strong>climate</strong>’s been changing for millennia. I don’t think there’s anything that’shappening now that’s out of the ordinary. We’ve had droughts before. We’ve hadrain before. We’ve had wet years before, <strong>and</strong> similar patterns to the last 10–15years … In geological terms, we’re pissing in the wind. Nobody wants to hearthat. It’s good going <strong>and</strong> planting trees <strong>and</strong> all that, but the environment, where Igrew up, is so different now to when I was a kid [Dairy Farmer, Melbourne].A major commercial horticulturalist from the same region, whose family had beengrowing for a number of generations, shared his scepticism <strong>and</strong> disdain towards thevery proposition that anthropogenic <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong> existed as a phenomenon, albeit ina somewhat contradictory manner:Climate <strong>change</strong> is all bullshit, people just jumping on the b<strong>and</strong>wagon. Nature hasto take its course, we can’t stop it, we can’t control nature. There was ten years ofdrought in Clyde, but now the weather’s <strong>change</strong>d again. There are sometimesearly springs, <strong>and</strong> early summers. If that happens, we adapt, we do the best wecan. We sense the <strong>change</strong>s. The early springs <strong>and</strong> summers mean that it will behot <strong>and</strong> muggy <strong>and</strong> wet [Market Gardener, Melbourne].Furthermore, a small-scale market gardener from the Cardinia region in Victoriaexplains that even though the science of <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong> have advanced <strong>and</strong> ‘proven’the phenomenon, he has not seen any difference to his farming:Nothing has really <strong>change</strong>d for us in the 30 odd years that we have beengardening, including the <strong>climate</strong>, it <strong>change</strong>s with the seasons. So perhaps the<strong>Urban</strong> <strong>food</strong> <strong>security</strong>, <strong>urban</strong> <strong>resilience</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>climate</strong> <strong>change</strong> 36
- Page 1 and 2: Synthesis and Integrative ResearchF
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- Page 5 and 6: ABSTRACTFood security is increasing
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- Page 21 and 22: 4. RESULTSIn this section we presen
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- Page 25 and 26: people and the origins of their foo
- Page 27 and 28: urban food supply chains. Thus, whi
- Page 29 and 30: This logistics system is dominated
- Page 31 and 32: Like Hodgson et al., as per definit
- Page 33 and 34: esilient, powerful by being locally
- Page 35 and 36: volume or even its contribution to
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- Page 40 and 41: generations this history has been f
- Page 42 and 43: a stronger focus on addressing the
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- Page 48 and 49: agriculture. Eight percent is in ur
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- Page 54 and 55: As discussed above, protection of t
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- Page 64 and 65: … the residents of S Park called
- Page 66 and 67: 5. CONCLUSIONSThere is growing conc
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- Page 72 and 73: Many interviewees of both standpoin
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- Page 82 and 83: IntroductionGlobally, and in Austra
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While some see the density of devel
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when suppliers, distributors, and c
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a more prominent role in enhancing
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community gardens webpage on the Co
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comprehensive description of the ca
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In both the developed and developin
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Their review notes a significant in
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lines of supply from often rural pl
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1 IntroductionCities have always be
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Despite some attempts to curb urban
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the Gold Coast remains a city that
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ackyard/community gardenernot affil
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level in local government. VicHealt
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Figure 2: Impacts on Municipal Food
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security I recognise that the cost
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United States, he offered the follo
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This vision highlights the multi-fu
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An environmental education centre.
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Melbourne Food ForestA Melbourne ga
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stakeholder consultations, the repo
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can. We sense the changes. The earl
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half-desert environments. We’re g
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etain its basic function and struct
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government; and that trying to get
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the north and the west, where it wo
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Why do people buy so much food that
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urban agriculture (however broadly
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enefits and risks. Before we can co
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Another important and tangible role
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coast without any problems whatsoev
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BIBLIOGRAPHYAECOM (2011) Scoping St
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Burns, C. I., A. (2007). Measuring
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Edwards, F., & Mercer, D. (2010). M
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James, S. O’Neill, P. and Dimeski
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Millar, R., 2012, ‘Government shi
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Saltmarsh, N. M., J; Longhurst, N.
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Walker B., 2008, Resilience Thinkin