Consensus democracy as a model for effective environmental policy? A case study of the stakeholder participation process in Finland
Kim Zilliacus and Hanna-Maria Bärlund (University of Helsinki) Since the beginning of the 1990s the emphasis of participatory democracy has become stronger in Finnish policy- and decision-making. This development involves various stakeholders participating in negotiations, or more specifically deliberations, around current issues in order to reach consensus and enable a continuance in the policy process....
An apple to stay: the economic and social health of Sydney’s Apple Orchardists
Bronwyn Isaacs (The Australian National University) Peter Malcolm (Department of Industry and Investment, NSW) Jane Dixon (The Australian National University) Australian consumers enjoy a cheap and diverse diet because of modern developments within the food supply chain. But the costs of our contemporary cuisine cultures include diet-related health problems, declining farming communities and a dislocation...
Planning for Australia’s food security
Ian Sinclair (Edge Land Planning and University of NSW) Food is a sustaining and enduring necessity. Yet among the basic essentials for life – air, water, shelter, and food – only food has been absent over the years as a focus of serious professional planning interest. (2007) ‘Policy Guide on Community and Regional Food Planning’...
Land use planning – Numbers, area, location and relative importance of Sydney’s vegetable farms in providing for its vegetable requirements
Peter Malcolm (Department of Industry and Investment, NSW) Riad Fahd (University of Western Sydney) For the establishment of good policy and effective planning, it is essential to have accurate data regarding the size and relative importance of agricultural industries. This is particularly so in peri- urban areas surrounding the major cities where there is competition...
The future of farming in amenity landscapes: farmer perspectives from North East Victoria
Jane Roots (Charles Sturt University) The production of food and fibre in amenity landscapes is under transition, influenced by a myriad of local, state and international drivers. Farmers in amenity landscapes face challenges and opportunities from increasing land prices, subdivision of land, growing communities, competition for scarce water resources, changing commodity markets and changing community...
Playing with fire? Wildfire and everyday life in changing rural landscapes in Australia
Christine Eriksen and Nicholas Gill (University of Wollongong) Communicating the need to prepare well in advance of the wildfire season is a strategic priority for wildfire management agencies worldwide. However, recent tragic wildfires suggest that although agencies invest significant effort towards this objective, landholders in at-risk locations often remain under-prepared. One reason for the poor...
Innovative methodology for understanding and engendering contemporary social change: holistic organic systems as a case study of sustainable systems
Sandra Grimes (Community Engagement Researcher) Can an unorthodox blend of participatory methodology, activism and social analysis co-exist as an effective research strategy to identify what constitutes a sustainable system in practice and to network for community engagement and social change to replicate these systems and extend their impact? This presentation examines the history and impact...
Green Harvest? Australian organic farming, environment and health
Rebecca Jones (Monash University) Commercial Australian organic farmers negotiate the interaction between productivity and ideology. The aim of this paper is to discuss the ideology which has underpinned organic farming from the early twentieth century until the present day. This paper argues that the key principle underpinning Australian organic farming is the belief that human...
Genetically modifying the future: competing agri-food pathways
Jacqui Dibden (Monash University) Chris Cocklin (James Cook University) David Gibbs (University of Hull, UK) Proponents of the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture argue that the technology can make a vital contribution to increasing production, improving farmer health and livelihoods, and enhancing food quality in the third world. By contrast, critics view...
Forms and Eras of Nutritionism
Gyorgy Scrinis (University of Melbourne) The nutritionism paradigm has been the dominant paradigm within nutrition science over the past century and a half, and is characterised by a nutritionally reductive approach to understanding and engaging with food in terms of its nutrient composition. Over this period, three broad eras of nutrition science will be distinguished,...
Plentiful food? Nutritious food?
Colin Butler and Jane Dixon (The Australian National University) Most Australians have access to sufficient energy and dietary diversity, although up to a fifth of households is periodically reliant on charities for food. Some Australian sub-populations suffer from micro-nutrient shortfalls that are injurious to health: this is generally caused by poor dietary diversity. Globally, the...
Healthy food? ‘Naturally’: Anthropocentrism, sustainability, and normality
Alison Henderson (University of Waikato) This paper examines the multiple understandings of the term ‘natural’ currently evident in the public domain in relation to health, food, and the environment. In the western world where ‘healthy’ food is increasingly constructed within a medical paradigm, ‘healthy’ usually means the wellbeing of humans. Healthy food is frequently narrowly...
