Published Feb 10 2023

‘What Happens Next?’: Can We Take a Bite Out of Food Insecurity?

Susan
Carland
Academic, author and social commentator
Roslyn gleadow
Professor of Plant Sciences
Sue kleve
Senior Lecturer, Nutrition Dietetics & Food
Ian carson
Co-founder, SecondBite
Liza barbour
Teaching Associate, Nutrition Dietetics and Food, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Between climate change, inflation, the pandemic, and geopolitical tensions, it’s increasingly difficult for the average Australian family to put high-quality, culturally-relevant food on the table.

A major part of the problem is how wasteful our food systems are. According to Stop Food Waste Australia, the country wastes 7.6 million tonnes of food annually – “enough to fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground to the brim near nine times”.

While some of that waste happens between the paddock and the supermarket, the bulk of the problem is much closer to home. Households account for more than one-third of Australia’s total food waste.

Listen: Is Food Insecurity Getting Worse?

Monash University’s podcast, What Happens Next?, revisits the future of food this week. Hear more from some of the change-makers on the front lines of food – the people working to improve the underlying causes of food insecurity, provide emergency food relief, and even shape the future of agriculture.

Host Dr Susan Carland’s expert guests include dietitians Dr Sue Kleve and Liza Barbour, plant scientist Professor Ros Gleadow, and Ian Carson AM, a Monash alumnus and co-founder of food rescue organisation SecondBite.

Importantly, listeners will leave with actionable insights into solving Australia’s food crisis – starting in their own kitchens.

“We're all active players in the food system, so we need to demand more localised food systems and we actually have a lot of power to do that.”

Liza Barbour

What Happens Next? will return next week with an all-new topic.

If you’re enjoying the show, don’t forget to subscribe on your favourite podcast app, and rate or review What Happens Next? to help listeners like yourself discover it.

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Listen to more What Happens Next? podcast episodes

About the Authors

  • Susan carland

    Director, Bachelor of Global Studies, and Lecturer, School of Language, Literature, Cultures and Linguistics

    Susan's research and teaching specialties focus on gender, sociology, contemporary Australia, terrorism, and Islam in the modern world. Susan hosted the “Assumptions” series on ABC’s Radio National, and was named one of the 20 Most Influential Australian Female Voices in 2012 by The Age.

  • Roslyn gleadow

    Professor of Plant Sciences, School of Biological Sciences

    Ros is a plant biologist who studies the effect of climate change on food security, with a focus on plants that make cyanide as a herbivore defence, examining the issues from the molecular through to the ecosystem, and even global scales. She coordinates the core undergraduate science program at Monash and is a pioneer in the use of new technology in higher education

  • Sue kleve

    Senior Lecturer, Nutrition Dietetics & Food

    Sue is an Accredited Practising Dietitian who came to Monash with more than 20 years experience working as a public health nutritionist. It was through this experience that she developed her research interest in household food security (physical, economic and social access to sufficient nutritious food on a daily basis) in high income countries. Her PhD explored the existence and experience of food insecurity in low-to middle income Melbourne Households. Sue is the convener of the Australian Household Food Security Research Collaboration.

  • Ian carson

    Co-founder, SecondBite

  • Liza barbour

    Teaching Associate, Nutrition Dietetics and Food, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

    Liza started teaching at Monash University in 2010 and has designed one of Australia's first undergraduate units on food sustainability systems for nutrition and dietetics students, which she continues to coordinate. Her PhD seeks to describe the role of local governments in promoting healthy and environmentally sustainable diet-related practices, and to understand the contextual factors which influence the policy-making process.

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