Does Australia's agri-food system have a corporate power problem?
Australia produces enough food to feed its people several times over. Yet diet-related disease is rising, farmers are squeezed, our land, climate and waterways are degrading, and one in five households experience food insecurity.
These outcomes are not accidental. According to many reports, they reflect a system organised around the interests of powerful corporations, industry lobby groups and financiers that sit at its centre.
Feeding Power Australia investigates this challenge. The project maps who these actors are, how they are connected, and how they shape the markets, policies and rules that govern what we grow and eat.
It also asks what it would take to open space for the farmers, communities and alternative food networks already working towards a fairer, healthier and more sustainable food future.
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ABOUT
FEEDING POWER AUSTRALIA HAS FOUR KEY AIMS:
1. Who holds the power
Supermarkets, agribusinesses, commodity traders, food manufacturers and their lobby groups hold outsized influence over Australian food and farming. Feeding Power identifies these actors and assesses their economic, institutional, political and discursive power.
2. Networks of influence
Corporate power is networked. Through shared boards, common shareholders, industry associations, revolving doors and lobbying networks, incumbent actors coordinate to protect their interests. We map these connections to show who sits at the centre of the web.
3. How policy gets captured
From food labelling to climate and land-use laws, reforms that threaten incumbents are often delayed, diluted or blocked. We examine how this happens through lobbying, donations, the revolving door, industry-funded research and narratives like "feeding the world."
4. Shifting the power
Understanding power is the first step to changing it. Working with advocates, campaigners, producers and policymakers, Feeding Power identifies the leverage points where corporate dominance can be challenged and alternatives strengthened.
FEEDING POWER AUSTRALIA PROJECT TEAM
Dr Scott Slater
Scott's research investigates the politics of food, nutrition and public health, including corporate power in governance and policy. Read more about his work here.
