Urban food security, urban resilience and climate change - weADAPT

green roof experiment is soon to commence at Melbourne University’s Burnleycampus, and the results of that may be significant in demonstrating the potential forsimilar projects elsewhere. Research was conducted recently in the Gold Coast toassess the scope for retro-fitting green roofs to existing industrial buildings and twoindustrial estates in the city have been designed and built to include on-site foodgrowing capacity.The case study research confirmed the view found in much of the published literaturethat there are many and substantial benefits that urban agriculture confers. However,further research is required on:the health, well-being and educational benefits of participating in urbanagriculture activities, especially in terms of changes in dietary patterns and theskill requirements for productive food growing;the carbon sequestration potential of urban orchards and other soil-based formsof urban agriculture including the most effective methods for increasing theorganic content of soils;the carbon reduction potential of hydroponics and aquaponics and otherpotential costs and benefits of these techniques in terms of climate resilienceand food security.Another research gap concerns the demand for emergency food relief services,including the use of the various types of vouchers that agencies make available, eitherfrom their own resources or with government assistance. There appears to be noreliable source of information that describes which agencies provide which services,and according to what criteria and conditions. This hinders policy development andfrom the perspective of potential users of emergency food relief services, can be acause of considerable hardship. Research should therefore be undertaken to map thecurrent forms of provision of emergency food relief in Australian cities, who theproviders are, and what levels of demand they are witnessing for their services. Thisshould include an investigation into whether some forms of food relief, such as foodvouchers, can be redeemed at farmers’ markets or other fresh food outlets, as isbecoming more common in the United States.Finally research could usefully explore public preferences for different types of food,different approaches to the sale of fresh fruit and vegetables and attitudes to urbanfood growing. Similarly, willingness to pay studies and discrete choice experimentscould explore the price comparison of locally grown and organic food with food grownfurther afield and under different conditions.6.2 Policy gaps and future directionsWhile there is clear evidence of increasing public interest in Australia in food, especiallyin its preparation and consumption, the popularity of growing one’s own food inbackyards, community and school gardens and on roadside verges appears also to beincreasing. At the same time public health experts continue to warn of theconsequences of eating unhealthily and press for a shift in the dietary balance of mostAustralians away from highly processed foods with high levels of salt, fats and sugarsto more fresh fruit and vegetables.Urban food security, urban resilience and climate change 68