A stocktake of Australia's $800bn food system revealed

Released as part of the Food System Horizons initiative, CSIRO has completed a stocktake report of Australia’s $800 billion food system.

The report highlights the economic and production strengths of the food system, which is currently feeding around 100 million people — including 27 million Australians — with food produced by only 100,000 farmers. It also acknowledges the significant employment opportunities provided by the system, particularly in regional areas. For example, Australia’s food manufacturing sector alone has a gross production value of $125bn in 2023, and the sector employed over 200,000 people, making it the largest manufacturing industry in Australia.

Along with details of the food system’s success, the report calls for a shift to a new holistic approach to managing and reporting on our food system. For example, in the manufacturing section, the report said new business models and food processing technologies have potential to make regional food processing economically viable by upskilling labour and reducing start-up costs.

The report also estimates the hidden costs of the overall food system, including animal welfare and human health; loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services; greenhouse gas emissions; pollution and degradation of water, air and soil resources; and food waste, food insecurity and malnutrition.

One of the key messages in the report is that better management of the food system will unlock a range of benefits, including:

• Enabling the proactive design of healthier and more affordable food environments.
• Enabling high-value regional food manufacturing and food ecosystems to stimulate regional economies and improve food environments and health outcomes.
• Supporting efforts to minimise and repurpose waste and improve sustainability across the food system.

Fast facts on Australia’s food system.

CSIRO Agriculture and Food Director Dr Michael Robertson said knowing and understanding the state of our food system through regular reporting is the critical first step in dealing with the complex challenges and opportunities facing Australia’s food system.

“Our food system is more than just producing and exporting commodities — it’s also about providing equitable access to safe, nutritious and healthy food, produced sustainably for all Australians,” Robertson said.

Dr Michael Robertson, CSIRO’s Agriculture and Food Director. ©The University of Queensland

“This national stocktake provides an evidence base to guide our actions as social, cultural, environmental and economic priorities shift.”

Australia’s food system includes a range of factors from production to distribution and consumption of food and food ingredients, nutrition and health, alongside the natural and social systems that support it. The intersection of our food system with other critical goals calls for a more comprehensive way to evaluate its performance, according to Robertson.

Fixing fragmented policies

Food policy in Australia is currently fragmented across portfolios as diverse as agriculture, environment, industry, social services, health, transport and urban planning, according CSIRO Sustainability Research Director Larelle McMillan.

“We need to move from analysing specific parts of the food system, to establishing coordinated reporting for important food system attributes and interactions, thus enabling connected-up action for a national food system that serves all,” McMillan said.

The report identified three key steps to guide a systems-based approach for transformation:

1. Recognising the food system as an integrated whole, moving beyond a fragmented, sector-based view.
2. Navigating responsibility across government, industry and communities to ensure shared accountability for sustainability, nutrition and equity goals.
3. Enabling interactions across disconnected parts of the system, from farming and nutrition to policy and innovation.

McMillan said a reporting system would offer valuable insights into where the food system is falling short — for example, almost a third of Australian households experience moderate or severe food insecurity each year — and where it’s failing to meet the needs of all Australians.

“This can be used as a focal point to bring together a greater diversity of voice and vision to identify pathways to sustainable, healthy and affordable food for all Australians,” she said.

The ‘Towards a state of the food system’ report for Australia has been produced by the Food System Horizons initiative, a collaboration between CSIRO and The University of Queensland.

Image credit: iStock.com/alexis84