Region. Forum on food sustainability

A forum hosted by the University of Western Sydney brought together the key players who are responsible for sustaining and growing Australia's food industry at a time when the Australian population is booming and the climate becomes more challenging. Professor Bill Bellotti, Vincent Fairfax Chair in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, at UWS, said the forum was an opportunity to critically assess the current food industry, education and policy landscape and discuss potential adaptations to address future challenges. The event, held at the UWS Hawkesbury campus, a centre for agriculture and food research for over 100 years, was convened by UWS deputy Vice-Chancellor (International and Development), Professor John Ingleson, the UWS Innovation & Consulting team and the UWS School of Natural Sciences.

Region. $603 million in fresh food waste

Sydney households annually throw out $603 million fresh food waste, which is close to the $660 million combined income of all the farms in the metropolitan basin, according to University of Western Sydney's Urban Research Centre, in Parramatta. ''Sydney is such a rich consumer society that it happily throws away in value as much as Sydney farmers receive in income,'' said Professor Phillip O'Neill, director of the centre, in a story in The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney residents spent about $6.5 billion last year - or more than a third of total household food and beverage budgets - on takeaway, alcohol or dining out, the centre has calculated using ABS figures. This was 36 times what they spent on fresh vegetables grown within the basin, it found.