Planning for Food

This 2012 Food Alliance/Heart Foundation publication is a precursor to the work of the Foodprint Melbourne project and members of the Foodprint Melbourne team contributed to the report.

Planning for a healthy, sustainable and fair food system is a key issue for Victoria’s Metropolitan Planning Strategy. Food is among the most basic of human needs, but metropolitan planning has overlooked it in recent decades.

This paper identifies key recommendations that the Metropolitan Planning Strategy should consider, including:

• Food should be a cross-cutting theme of the strategy alongside other critical themes, such as natural resources and transport
• ‘Drought-proof’ food bowls should be established on the fringe of Melbourne for fruit and vegetable production, and the necessary infrastructure should be funded to support the use of recycled water from the Eastern and Western Water Treatment plants
• Land of high agricultural value should be identified, mapped and protected.
• The urban growth boundary should be fixed in perpetuity, protecting areas of primary production significance to support the long-term agricultural economy
• The implementation of the strategy should be governed by a cross-government committee that includes representatives from all relevant departments