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https://theconversation.com/time-to-buy-local-war-fuel-price-shocks-reveal-the-folly-of-a-long-food-supply-chain-278786>
"Most of our food travels many thousands of kilometres across Australia to
reach our kitchens. We are highly dependent on a vast web of long-haul trucks
to move food between growers, massive food distribution hubs and large
supermarkets.
Of course, trucks need fuel – and lots of it. As war in the Middle East leads
to diesel price spikes in Australia, food prices will rise too. Already, the
National Farmers’ Federation has said it expects food prices will rise “within
weeks”.
And as the COVID pandemic showed – where supermarket shelves were emptied after
widespread panic buying – it’s not just war that can reveal weaknesses in a
system too heavily reliant on available diesel and long supply chains. These
problems are also laid bare when natural disasters strike, roads are cut off
and trucks can’t get food to supermarkets.
Meanwhile, Australia’s current strategy of releasing fuel reserves may only end
up delaying food price hikes, as the war in the Middle East plays out in
unknown ways.
This shock to our food system is not the first, and it won’t be the last.
Focusing on band-aid solutions that prop up the current system undermines our
long-term capacities for resilience. We need a plan B for when plan A – the
current system – isn’t working."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
