The key to future food supply is sitting on our cities’ doorsteps

Our food systems are under increasing pressure from growing populations, diminishing resources and climate change. But, in a new report, we argue that city foodbowls – the agricultural land surrounding our cities – could supply more secure and sustainable food.

The final report of our Foodprint Melbourne project outlines a vision for “resilient city foodbowls” that can harness city waste to produce food, reduce dependence on distant sources of food and act as a buffer against increasing volatility in global food supplies.

But to do so we need to start planning now. Food is a basic human need – along with water, housing and transport – but it hasn’t been high on the planning agenda for Australia’s cities.

Read the piece on The Conversation by a trio of authors from the University of Melbourne: Research Fellow, Rachel Carey; a fellow researcher in sustainable food systems, Jennifer Sheridan; and the Manager from Food Systems Research and Partnerships, Kirsten Larsen - “The key to future food supply is sitting on our cities’ doorsteps.”