If Prime Minister Julia Gillard wants Australia to be the Asian foodbowl, the government had best start ensuring we actually have enough agricultural land to do so.
One of Sydney’s best foodbowls, the Hawkesbury, is at risk of annihilation as produce farms are dig up and replaced by turf farms and horse paddocks.
Local representative group, Hawkesbury Harvest believes a lack of proper planning is putting the future production of the region at risk.
"There is capacity for food production to occur in the Sydney basin but the traditional ways of growing food are disappearing," Hawkesbury Harvest chairman David Mason said, told New Ltd.
"Traditional market gardens can't compete with cheaper imports."
Mason says the increasing awareness in some parts of the community about the importance of supporting Australian farmers and local products is leading to an increase in websites connecting consumers to farmers and could prove to be a lifeline for the struggling industry.
"They are viable mechanisms,” he said.
“The old way of farmers picking their fruit and sending it off to a central warehouse or a central wholesaler just doesn't work. They just don't have the volumes that the supermarkets are looking for," Mr Mason said.
"The only way they can guarantee they can be profitable is through direct marketing – from the producer to the customer.
"Those producers that are using the direct marketing mechanism, the market, the box drop and web purchases, are doing quite well."
Dail Miller, chairman of Community Action for Windsor Bridge, a group against a proposed new bridge in the region, said there needs to be more support for the industry.
"The Hawkesbury is arguably Sydney's greatest food bowl," he said.
"Orchardists, farmers and artisan producers grow and create against the rich historical backdrop of the Hawkesbury region and the bordering Blue Mountains.
"The certainty of Hawkesbury's heritage has underpinned the economy for generations.
"Other economic forces have actually caused great uncertainty – universities and air force bases of questionable longevity for example make genuine planning decisions difficult.
“On the other hand, the area's landscape and unparalleled heritage values have underpinned food production, hospitality and tourism, while ensuring fresh produce for the Sydney markets.
"The destruction of that local economic bedrock is making it ever more difficult for local businesses and farmers – growers are particularly exposed to this phenomenon – and as each one succumbs to those difficulties the developers move in.
"The landscape is destroyed, old buildings demolished and the bedrock even further eroded."
The PM’s comments urging Australia to embrace the rapidly increasing Asian middle class has been slammed by farmers and industry experts, who say current regulations are hindering the sector, not helping it.
Other experts have pointed out it would be irresponsible to rely on the income from exports to Asia, as the region already has plans in place to feed itself.
Some of these plans include buying up some of Australia’s prime agricultural land, to grow food to send back overseas, a move that has been widely criticised throughout the country, leading to calls for a public register of land ownership and a cap on foreign ownership.
The industry is also struggling with lower than ever employment, with young people looking towards the mining industry rather than agriculture, and family farms being sold as they struggle to make a living in the current retail environment.
Agriculture degrees across the country are closing as enrolment numbers plummet and considering the average age of an Australian farmer is 62 and primary school children think yoghurt grows on trees, the future of our farming industry is looking pretty bleak and requires urgent attention now if it’s to be there for future generations.