Sustainable Food Production, Consumption, and the Generation of

5.0 Conclusion
The reader provides a first glimpse of a local perspective on questions arising from
reflections over food production, consumption and the generation of waste. Food production is
clearly at the center of complex social economic and environmental enquiries. The way we
produce food can improve the sustainability of our food systems by reducing fossil fuel
emissions, avoiding environmental contamination, preserving biodiversity, building community
and supporting local economies. Victoria has the potential to be largely self sufficient with its
food production. However, there are still several hurdles to overcome. Current policies need to
provide incentives for alternative and sustainable forms of production and restrict food
production, which is resource intense and does not take sustainability principles into account.
Among the constraints are also the limited availability of land and farmers. Changes also need to
happen in personal attitudes and consumer behaviours, not only with respect to food production,
but also with the wasting of resources through packaging. There is still far too much wrapping
and packaging involved in the daily consumption of food and a significant proportion of our
waste is still deposited at landfills. However, the level of consumer awareness is slowly
increasing and there is hope that the potential for change through the consumers vote on products
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