Fairness in Australia's food and farming system - Farmer perspectives and experience

Abstract

From June to September 2014 the Fair Food Farmers United (FFFU) branch of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) carried out an online survey of farmers’ experience and views on fairness and unfairness in the Australian foodand farming system. 54 farmers of diverse size, scale, age, production and location, completed the survey. The survey results clearly point to the need for change at many levels. Unfairness is rife through our food and farming systems, with the power of the supermarket duopoly identified by farmers completing this survey as the number one issue, closely followed by the impacts of cheap imports, free trade, costs of inputs, the cost-­‐price squeeze and power of agri-­‐chemical and seed corporations, and over-­‐burdensome government regulation.