Food production in Far West NSW

Regional Development Australia Far West is interested in understanding more about the local food industry. We would like to understand what is grown locally, by whom and how much is produced.

Many regions in Australia have significantly grown and diversified their economy by growing their local food industry. Anecdotal evidence suggests a considerable amount of foods are grown or produced in our region, however it appears very little of that food is processed / packaged / marketed in the region.

Many regions in the country are synonymous with their food industry, the Hunter is famous for its wine. The Northern Territory is synonymous with Crocodile and Buffalo. Regardless of the fantastic foods produced in our region we do not provide huge opportunities for locals or tourists to explore locally produced food.

As the State’s population increases (predicted to increase to 9.1 million by 2031) food scarcity is expected to grow.

A 70% increase in global demand for food is predicted by 2050.

Food security does more than just grow our economy, in 2008 only 6% of Australian adults consumed the recommended daily intake of both fruit and vegetables, and almost ¼ of Australia’s disease burden is attributed to diet related risk factors.
 

Helping us by completing this survey is critical to the development of our local food market. Growing and improving our local food market holds many benefits, including;

• Growing and diversifying our economy
• Contribute to a healthier community
• Increase the quality of food consumed locally
• Creating local jobs
• Reduce the distance our food travels to us
• Reduce the cost of fresh high quality food
• Provide greater access to locally produced and packaged food
• Reduce food wastage. In 2010-11 over 1.2 million tonnes of food went to landfill from homes and business across NSW – that equates to 1 swimming pool every 9 hours.