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https://theconversation.com/sydney-once-produced-its-own-food-but-urban-development-has-devoured-the-citys-food-bowl-263105>
"For much of Sydney’s history, the city supported its population with crops,
orchards, dairies, abattoirs, oyster beds, wineries and market gardens
scattered across the basin.
In 1951, New South Wales’ soon-to-be premier Joseph Cahill saw the development
pressures building on the city’s food bowl. In parliament, he promised Sydney’s
rural areas would be preserved “for vital food production […] soil
conservation, irrigation, afforestation”.
Cahill’s promise was in vain. Farms continued to be paved over or turned into
housing as the suburban expansion gathered pace. Smaller urban farms
disappeared in the face of pressures from developers and larger rural
producers. Urban development has now severely weakened Sydney’s local food
economy.
Sydney still has room to grow food, which would boost resilience in the face of
climate threats and extreme weather. But the city has long been geared towards
converting farmland into houses, shops or industries. Today, the city’s five
million residents rely almost entirely on food transported into the city’s
topographic basin.
We have unearthed the diversity of what was lost in our new book,
Sydney’s
Food Landscapes and in our Google Maps database of the city’s former wealth of
food production sites."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
