‘Field Notes’ is a fortnightly column in which Regen Melbourne’s Lead Convenors provide on-the-ground updates and insights from their work and focus areas.

Between the cost of living, climate change, COVID, and conflict, the deep flaws and inequities in our food systems have been laid bare. In her new role as Regen Melbourne’s Food Systems Lead, Dheepa Jeyapalan reflects on the challenges and opportunities ahead of us as we collaborate to create a fairer and more regenerative food system for our city.

We’re living in a pivotal moment in our nation’s relationship with food. The flaws in our food system have become impossible to ignore, and there’s a collective realisation that things need to change. That’s why I’m so thrilled to be here with Regen Melbourne, right now, in this transformative time.

I adore food. It’s my passion, maybe even my obsession. It’s constantly on my mind. I dream about it, and spend much of my day thinking about it for work, planning my next meal, or savouring memories of a delicious dish I had a few days ago, trying to recall its aroma, taste, and the joy it brought me. What will I cook tonight? Which of the restaurants in my vibrant neighbourhood of Footscray will I visit this weekend?

Vandana Shiva, the fearless Indian food sovereignty advocate, once said, "Food is the currency of life." Sadly, this currency is flowing through a corporatised, extractive, and unhealthy economic system, and our food has started to embody these values. Many of us haven’t felt this impact directly; we’ve been able to feed our families cheaply, access food conveniently, and find the ingredients we need for the recipe we have in mind. 

However, while some of us have enjoyed relative ease, many Australians have struggled with accessing and enjoying food for a long time. The three Cs – climate change, COVID, and conflict – have intensified this struggle, making it a universal issue. We’ve seen empty supermarket shelves, rising grocery bills, and longer lines for food relief. Suddenly, everyone is talking about food: supermarket shopping is a TikTok topic, food supply issues dominate parliamentary discussions, and frustrated farmers’ stories are in the media. 

The deep flaws in our food system are laid bare: its environmental toll, its roots in colonisation, dispossession, and exploitation. Yet, this moment has also brought food system innovations that previously sat in the margins into the mainstream, including discounted food stores like Cheaper Buy Miles, co-ops, and farm-direct fruit and veggie boxes. Communities across the country are using their purchasing power to challenge the post-industrial, post-colonial food system that has been benefiting a few at the expense of our health and our environment.

“Vandana Shiva once said, "Food is the currency of life." Sadly, this currency is flowing through a corporatised, extractive, and unhealthy economic system, and our food has started to embody these values.”

Over the past six months, there have been multiple federal and state inquiries into our food system, including two in Victoria. The Victorian food systems sector has long awaited this. Finally, food is on the agenda! As we celebrated this attention, we asked ourselves, "What should we demand?" We had many important asks: subsidies for regenerative agriculture, universal free school meals, a levy on sugar-sweetened beverages, and a food plan, to name a few. Revealing that as a sector we have incredible ideas – programs we have researched and evaluated, policy insights from other jurisdictions, narratives that we have tested. We collectively agreed that we have a grand challenge ahead of us: transforming the Victorian food system. 

Between our ideas and the grand challenge lies a crucial element we need to clearly define: our earthshot (referred to in some sectors as a mission). It’s the shape of where we want to go; something we can rally around, fight for, and celebrate as we make progress.

The brilliant economist Mariana Mazzucato explains: "By setting the direction for a solution, missions do not specify how to achieve success. The right answers are not known in advance. Rather, missions stimulate the development of a range of different solutions to meet grand challenges and reward those actors willing to take risks and experiment."

This is what the food systems sector needs: a unifying earthshot. Next time we talk to politicians, we can say with confidence, "This is what we want, and I have the support of my entire sector." Investors, philanthropists and government will have clarity on where to direct their efforts, allowing us as a sector to experiment, tweak and scale transformative solutions. 

I’m excited to have joined Regen Melbourne to collectively imagine with the Victorian food system sector, what our earthshot should be. Just as RM has wildly and ambitiously declared for a Swimmable Birrarung, there is a shape of something for us in food, so what is it?

Over the next few months, I’ll be connecting with old colleagues and new faces to define this earthshot together. I want to understand the foundational elements needed to turn this vision into reality, explore the support required from the funding landscape, and identify initial pathways to start making progress. Together, we can shape a unifying goal that will guide us forward and seize this pivotal moment to transform our food system. 

Are you passionate about transforming Melbourne’s food systems? Reach out to me at [dheepa@regen.melbourne] to collaborate on our collective mission.

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