Food system's billions of 'hidden costs' a sick outlook
The CSIRO report, released on Monday, found such "hidden costs" could be as much as $274 billion - the highest of any equivalent system worldwide.
The agency's research examined Australia's network of food production, processing, transport, distribution, marketing and consumption to strengthen it against sustainability challenges and boost the delivery of healthy food.
Among key issues in the $800 billion system - underpinned by 100,000 farmers - was a scarcity of fresh produce ending up on the tables of Australian consumers.
"Australia's food system does not produce enough vegetables to meet recommended daily intakes," the report by the nation's science agency said.
"The promotion of convenient, highly processed foods is costing the Australian economy billions (of dollars) in lost productivity from the impact of preventable, diet-related diseases."
There was a "significant opportunity for communities, governments and businesses to work together to create future food environments that are healthier, more sustainable and more equitable".
Australia's "industrialised food system" included many high-quality and safe items, but was also associated with obesity and diet-related diseases at epidemic levels.
This was linked to the poor diet of the average Australian, who ate too few fruit and vegetables and too many nutrient-poor "discretionary foods".
"Displacement of healthy foods with discretionary foods means that many Australians suffer from micronutrient deficiencies despite the relative abundance of food," the report said.
There was also uneven access to grocery stores for healthy diet choices, room for improvement on food safety, and widespread food insecurity across the country, according to the report.
About 3.4 million households experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in the past 12 months, while 31 per cent of remote Indigenous people experienced food insecurity, it said.
In addition to impacts on human health, hidden costs include animal welfare, loss of biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and air, soil and water degradation, and food waste.
"This national stocktake provides an evidence base to guide our actions as social, cultural, environmental, and economic priorities shift," CSIRO agriculture and food director Michael Robertson said.
"We have an intergenerational responsibility to pursue these goals vigorously."
Foodbank chief operating officer Sarah Pennell said the findings confirmed the charity's observations from operations around the country.
"Too many Australians are struggling to afford and access nutritious food," Ms Pennell said in a statement.
"It's especially concerning that fresh fruit and vegetables, essential for good health, are among the first things to be cut from household budgets when money is tight.
"Good nutrition is a basic right, not a luxury, and this report reinforces the urgency of addressing Australia's growing food insecurity crisis."
Millions of Australians are being let down by a national food system that is cultivating insufficient fresh produce, contributing to high obesity rates and diet-related diseases, a first-of-its-kind report has found.
The CSIRO report, released on Monday, found such "hidden costs" could be as much as $274 billion - the highest of any equivalent system worldwide.
The agency's research examined Australia's network of food production, processing, transport, distribution, marketing and consumption to strengthen it against sustainability challenges and boost the delivery of healthy food.
Among key issues in the $800 billion system - underpinned by 100,000 farmers - was a scarcity of fresh produce ending up on the tables of Australian consumers.
"Australia's food system does not produce enough vegetables to meet recommended daily intakes," the report by the nation's science agency said.
"The promotion of convenient, highly processed foods is costing the Australian economy billions (of dollars) in lost productivity from the impact of preventable, diet-related diseases."
There was a "significant opportunity for communities, governments and businesses to work together to create future food environments that are healthier, more sustainable and more equitable".
Australia's "industrialised food system" included many high-quality and safe items, but was also associated with obesity and diet-related diseases at epidemic levels.
This was linked to the poor diet of the average Australian, who ate too few fruit and vegetables and too many nutrient-poor "discretionary foods".
"Displacement of healthy foods with discretionary foods means that many Australians suffer from micronutrient deficiencies despite the relative abundance of food," the report said.
There was also uneven access to grocery stores for healthy diet choices, room for improvement on food safety, and widespread food insecurity across the country, according to the report.
About 3.4 million households experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in the past 12 months, while 31 per cent of remote Indigenous people experienced food insecurity, it said.
In addition to impacts on human health, hidden costs include animal welfare, loss of biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and air, soil and water degradation, and food waste.
"This national stocktake provides an evidence base to guide our actions as social, cultural, environmental, and economic priorities shift," CSIRO agriculture and food director Michael Robertson said.
"We have an intergenerational responsibility to pursue these goals vigorously."
Foodbank chief operating officer Sarah Pennell said the findings confirmed the charity's observations from operations around the country.
"Too many Australians are struggling to afford and access nutritious food," Ms Pennell said in a statement.
"It's especially concerning that fresh fruit and vegetables, essential for good health, are among the first things to be cut from household budgets when money is tight.
"Good nutrition is a basic right, not a luxury, and this report reinforces the urgency of addressing Australia's growing food insecurity crisis."
Millions of Australians are being let down by a national food system that is cultivating insufficient fresh produce, contributing to high obesity rates and diet-related diseases, a first-of-its-kind report has found.
The CSIRO report, released on Monday, found such "hidden costs" could be as much as $274 billion - the highest of any equivalent system worldwide.
The agency's research examined Australia's network of food production, processing, transport, distribution, marketing and consumption to strengthen it against sustainability challenges and boost the delivery of healthy food.
Among key issues in the $800 billion system - underpinned by 100,000 farmers - was a scarcity of fresh produce ending up on the tables of Australian consumers.
"Australia's food system does not produce enough vegetables to meet recommended daily intakes," the report by the nation's science agency said.
"The promotion of convenient, highly processed foods is costing the Australian economy billions (of dollars) in lost productivity from the impact of preventable, diet-related diseases."
There was a "significant opportunity for communities, governments and businesses to work together to create future food environments that are healthier, more sustainable and more equitable".
Australia's "industrialised food system" included many high-quality and safe items, but was also associated with obesity and diet-related diseases at epidemic levels.
This was linked to the poor diet of the average Australian, who ate too few fruit and vegetables and too many nutrient-poor "discretionary foods".
"Displacement of healthy foods with discretionary foods means that many Australians suffer from micronutrient deficiencies despite the relative abundance of food," the report said.
There was also uneven access to grocery stores for healthy diet choices, room for improvement on food safety, and widespread food insecurity across the country, according to the report.
About 3.4 million households experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in the past 12 months, while 31 per cent of remote Indigenous people experienced food insecurity, it said.
In addition to impacts on human health, hidden costs include animal welfare, loss of biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and air, soil and water degradation, and food waste.
"This national stocktake provides an evidence base to guide our actions as social, cultural, environmental, and economic priorities shift," CSIRO agriculture and food director Michael Robertson said.
"We have an intergenerational responsibility to pursue these goals vigorously."
Foodbank chief operating officer Sarah Pennell said the findings confirmed the charity's observations from operations around the country.
"Too many Australians are struggling to afford and access nutritious food," Ms Pennell said in a statement.
"It's especially concerning that fresh fruit and vegetables, essential for good health, are among the first things to be cut from household budgets when money is tight.
"Good nutrition is a basic right, not a luxury, and this report reinforces the urgency of addressing Australia's growing food insecurity crisis."
Millions of Australians are being let down by a national food system that is cultivating insufficient fresh produce, contributing to high obesity rates and diet-related diseases, a first-of-its-kind report has found.
The CSIRO report, released on Monday, found such "hidden costs" could be as much as $274 billion - the highest of any equivalent system worldwide.
The agency's research examined Australia's network of food production, processing, transport, distribution, marketing and consumption to strengthen it against sustainability challenges and boost the delivery of healthy food.
Among key issues in the $800 billion system - underpinned by 100,000 farmers - was a scarcity of fresh produce ending up on the tables of Australian consumers.
"Australia's food system does not produce enough vegetables to meet recommended daily intakes," the report by the nation's science agency said.
"The promotion of convenient, highly processed foods is costing the Australian economy billions (of dollars) in lost productivity from the impact of preventable, diet-related diseases."
There was a "significant opportunity for communities, governments and businesses to work together to create future food environments that are healthier, more sustainable and more equitable".
Australia's "industrialised food system" included many high-quality and safe items, but was also associated with obesity and diet-related diseases at epidemic levels.
This was linked to the poor diet of the average Australian, who ate too few fruit and vegetables and too many nutrient-poor "discretionary foods".
"Displacement of healthy foods with discretionary foods means that many Australians suffer from micronutrient deficiencies despite the relative abundance of food," the report said.
There was also uneven access to grocery stores for healthy diet choices, room for improvement on food safety, and widespread food insecurity across the country, according to the report.
About 3.4 million households experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in the past 12 months, while 31 per cent of remote Indigenous people experienced food insecurity, it said.
In addition to impacts on human health, hidden costs include animal welfare, loss of biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and air, soil and water degradation, and food waste.
"This national stocktake provides an evidence base to guide our actions as social, cultural, environmental, and economic priorities shift," CSIRO agriculture and food director Michael Robertson said.
"We have an intergenerational responsibility to pursue these goals vigorously."
Foodbank chief operating officer Sarah Pennell said the findings confirmed the charity's observations from operations around the country.
"Too many Australians are struggling to afford and access nutritious food," Ms Pennell said in a statement.
"It's especially concerning that fresh fruit and vegetables, essential for good health, are among the first things to be cut from household budgets when money is tight.
"Good nutrition is a basic right, not a luxury, and this report reinforces the urgency of addressing Australia's growing food insecurity crisis."
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Vikki Mai Murphy always knew she wanted to be a mum but after months of negative pregnancy tests she and her partner Sean realised they would need some extra help. Following a round of intrauterine insemination (IUI), where prepared sperm is placed directly into a woman's uterus, Ms Murphy was thrilled to finally see a positive result for the first time. But almost eight weeks later, she discovered the pregnancy was ectopic and would have to be removed. In the resulting surgery she lost one of her fallopian tubes and doctors told her she would need to undergo IVF in order to successfully fall pregnant in future. "I just bawled and kept asking if I could still have my babies ... it just crushed me," Ms Murphy told AAP. The couple began to explore their IVF options and quickly realised the cost per round would be between $10,000 and $15,000. "We both just decided we wanted to throw everything at it and worry about the costs later," Ms Murphy said. For many people hoping to become parents, cost-of-living pressures are deterring them from fertility treatment. With Australia posting a record-low fertility rate in 2024, experts say low-cost IVF options will be crucial to addressing the decline in births. The average number of children born per woman was 1.51 in 2024, well below the 1.8 in 2014. In 2022, almost 109,000 IVF cycles were performed resulting in the birth of 20,058 babies. Almost half of Australians surveyed by Connect IVF said fertility services were not affordable. Connect IVF was one of the few affordable clinics in an industry that had been driven by a wave of corporatisation, director Brendan Ayres said. "(Our clinics) see a broad section of Australians and we get a disproportionate number of people from lower socioeconomic groups who need fertility treatment," he said. "We also have a number of patients who have been to other clinics and paid tens of thousands of dollars without success and are at their financial wits' end." Ms Murphy discovered Connect IVF by a chance internet search and the clinic was able to accommodate her for her next menstrual cycle. "The cost was substantially lower than other clinics because they bulk-billed the IVF cycle," she said. "It also allowed us to pay for a private obstetrician during my pregnancy, which we wouldn't have been able to afford if we'd had to pay up to $15,000 for the IVF." Ms Murphy ended up with four embryos from the round, which led to her three-year-old son Beau and one-year-old daughter Maia. "I love being a mum. It was such a journey and if I could have just looked into the future and seen my babies it would have made such a difference," she said. "People might think if they pay more money there might be more chance of having a baby, but I have friends who have paid thousands more than us with no success." While the Australian government supports parts of IVF through Medicare, it was not linked to the consumer price index, meaning the gap increased over time, Mr Ayres said. "Australia is a world leader in the technology of IVF but the funding hasn't followed," he said. "There also needs to be additions to Medicare item numbers to expand to all areas such as donor IVF which currently isn't covered."
