Having a chance to help on a submission for the New Drought Policy has made me realise what a sorry state our beautiful continent is in. The whole South East corner of the country basically from Northern Tassie and up to Central Queensland has been declared areas of Exceptional Circumstances. The impact of that on people is the ability to hang in there just a bit longer, hoping that the drought will break.
We need an agricultural sector in Australia. This sector needs to be vibrant and support the population for food and fuel. I ask you, what are we doing to the land with our current practice of building housing estates in the outer suburbs of our major cities; on the market garden areas and using our marginal farming land to supply cereal and sugar to the world.
I think our drought policy needs to link with urban planning, land use policies and our trade policies. Without these different areas talking to each other the policy landscape is dotted with craters that work against sustainable farming practices.
You can see the current EC areas if you click on the link below
http://www.daff.gov.au/agriculture-food/drought/ec
1 comment:
Yeah, it would be beautiful if urban areas supply there own food. Not only in Australia. It's positive in many ways: it has the possibility to make people more conscious about their food; we don't need to transport the food so far; and it can be beneficial for the community spirit especially when we actively try to commit each other to the proces of producing food in and for our urban communities.
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