Henryks, Joanna

Turner, Bethaney

English

2012 is the Australian Year of the Farmer. This initiative aims to increase knowledge and understanding of the role Australian agribusiness plays in food security, technological innovation and the nation’s economy. According to its manifesto it will also “remind city folk of the importance of our farmers, fostering greater connection and understanding, encouraging all of us to look for, to purchase and to appreciate Australian produce”

University of Canberra Research Repository

Academic rigour, journalistic flairUrban food knowledge: does yoghurt grow on trees in cities?March 20, 2012 2.00pm AEDTBethaney TurnerAssistant Professor in International Studies, University of CanberraJoanna HenryksAssistant Professor, Advertising and Marketing Communication, University of Canberra2012 is the Australian Year of the Farmer. This initiative aims to increase knowledge andunderstanding of the role Australian agribusiness plays in food security, technological innovation andthe nation’s economy. According to its manifesto it will also “remind city folk of the importance of ourfarmers, fostering greater connection and understanding, encouraging all of us to look for, topurchase and to appreciate Australian produce”.Attempts to achieve this seem to be warranted given that the source of basic foods remains a mysteryto some young Australians. Recent research  found 27% of year 6 students think yoghurt is a plantproduct. One-third believe cheese can only be made from cows’ milk. The authors of the study,produced by the Australian Council for Education Research, claim that this knowledge gap is partlyfuelled by a widening divide between our nation’s urban and rural communities.The disconnection from our food has only strengthened as people around the globe have moved fromthe countryside to the city. Since 2008, more of us have lived in cities than in rural areas. These shiftsin population mean that fewer people around the globe are actually involved in food production.Where does it all come from? Wendy CopleyUrban sprawl has been gobbling up fertile land around the world, including in the Sydney food bowl.Easily accessible cheap food in cities, primarily provided through supermarkets (interestingly,Woolworths is one of the foundation partners supporting the Australian Year of the Farmer), hasfreed people from the constraints of their own food production.Of course, there are benefits to not spending all day in the field; but we may have gone too far theother way. Carolyn Steele argues in Hungry City that our disconnection from food production hasmade city dwellers overly reliant on food trucked or shipped increasingly vast distances. Julian Cribbpoints to the unsustainability of these practices. He asks whether cities will be able to feed themselvesif transportation, or the oil supply it relies on, is disrupted due to natural disaster or politicalinstability.To avoid the “coming famine”, Cribb calls for more efficient urban agriculture initiatives. So, in theYear of the Farmer, perhaps we should be focusing on the innovative ways in which farming can beincorporated into city life.Children could be an important part of building that knowledge. If we want our children to knowwhere their food comes from; if we want them to be motivated to care about the lives and livelihoodsof farmers; if we want them to take seriously the environmental impacts of their food choices; and ifwe want them to know more about how their health is affected by the way food is made, perhaps weneed to rethink the place of food production and provisioning in cities.Urban food production where city dwellers are daily involved in, or directly confronted with, the foodsystem may be the key to a more secure food future. Rather than seeing food as a product of our “ruralcousins”, by getting involved in food production and processing, city dwellers could more effectivelyengage with the food system as a means of protecting our future food security.We could improve the knowledge of our cities’ young people through direct involvement in foodgrowing and cooking. This may include keeping goats in school farms, setting up more city farms(where animals are kept) and getting communities more actively engaged with these.This is not as simple as growing vegetables. Half of the year 6 students surveyed had been involved ina school vegetable garden. When asked directly about fruit and vegetable products, their knowledgewas quite reasonable.However, the report only refers to two questions on this issue: 95% knew potato chips were fromplant products; 55% recognised that banana, cheese and bread in their lunch boxes were from farms(but 24% did not identify the bread as a farm product).In other countries, city dwellers are closer to the source of their food. AAP/EPA/Mak RemissaGrowing veggies is a good start, but kids should know even more about where food comes from. travelskerricks/FlickrSchool kitchen garden programs come in many shapes and sizes, and it is unclear from the ACERresearch which specific school kitchen garden programs the children were involved in. For example,the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation program has been found to increase children’sknowledge of the relationship between food and its production. We don’t want to criticise the hardwork of those involved in such programs, but it’s possible not all kitchen garden programs have such arigorous plan.Perhaps children’s food production education would be more effective if it was better supported bythe surrounding community, or if it also got kids involved in producing animal foods, such as cheese,yoghurt and even meat. Vegetable gardens make an important contribution, but until kids areinvolved in processing foods, they’re not likely to know where processed foods come from.But many city dwellers lack the knowledge and capacity to engage in farming and processingenterprise. This knowledge has been lost since we all became so reliant on the industrial agriculturesystem; we should talk to the experts - the farmers - so we can get it back. We don’t just need moreurban agricultural initiatives, including food-producing back, front and median-strip gardens, schoolkitchen gardens, community gardens and city farms. We also need a transfer of knowledge from ruralfarmers. We need Australia’s farmers to be intimately involved in the development of innovative andefficient urban agricultural practices to assure our future food security.

Urban food knowledge: does yoghurt grow on trees in cities?

https://researchsystem.canberra.edu.au/ws/files/53125331/Urban_food_knowledge_does_yoghurt_grow_on_trees_in_cities_.pdf

Urban food knowledge: does yoghurt grow on trees in cities?

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