ABSTRACT
Recent policy initiatives in Australia at the metropolitan and national level have attempted to engage with ideas of food security in recognition of the threats that climate change and petrochemical dependency pose to food production as well as the barriers that socio-economic disadvantage present to accessing fresh and nutritious food. In the last five years, these threats have become more acute as agricultural production in the state of Victoria especially has been severely affected by natural disasters such as droughts, bushfires and floods. These natural disasters increase the cost of food for low-income households in Melbourne and regional areas alike (Carey et al., 2011). While the state and federal government have dedicated resources to supporting the economic sustainability of the agricultural sector and developing preventative health initiatives to encourage the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables, Carey et al. (2011) highlight the absence of ‘policy approaches that link fruit and vegetable consumption to production, either in Victoria or internationally’. This case study will focus on research carried out to explore farmers markets and community gardens as localized food systems that offer potential for improving dietary diversity and nutrition, supporting biological diversity and linking production to consumption. Data were collected using a GIS-based description of land use in Melbourne, as well as interviews carried out between 2009 and 2010 with local producers at farmers markets.
