How do you eat the elephant in the room? Agri-food Sustainability and King Island

Food is a staple of life. It has also become a staple of political rhetoric and indecision as our governing institutions grapple with economic, social and environmental dilemmas in relation to food provision. Many academics have observed that it is the actions of international regulating bodies and transnational corporations (TNCs) which control food provision globally that lead to imbalances. Rationalist concepts common in the industrialized food system of today are said to continually marginalize the small rural and regional food producer. The economy of King Island is dominated by the production of fine food products, most notably cheese and beef. Two of the most successful King Island brands are owned by transnational corporations, leaving the community exposed to global food ‘shocks’ and economic decisions made elsewhere. Globalization research which charts the rising power of TNCs would suggest King Island to be a vulnerable community in these circumstances. In an effort to gauge the resilience of King Island’s food systems this work examines four questions as posed by Constance (2008): agrarian, environmental, food and social equity questions that can be used to measure agri-food sustainability.