Damage from floods is expected to put pressure on food prices

About 20 per cent of Victoria's milk is produced in regions affected by floods.

Bega Foods' Tatura processing plant in the Goulburn Valley has lost electricity, putting milk in jeopardy. Millions of litres of milk could be wasted as Victorian farms are isolated by floodwater and remain without power.

Victorian Farmers Federation President Emma Germano said it was too early to know the long-term impacts of these floods.

"It's impossible to fully understand the impact on food availability and prices at this early stage," she said.

"What we do know is there will be significant impact and disruption coming through our supply chain in the coming months."

While large parts of agriculture have been impacted, the worst affected zones are large producers of horticulture (stone fruit, pears, apples) grains (barley, canola), livestock and dairy farms.

Container Transport Alliance Australia (CTAA) says its regional members in Victoria's Goulburn Valley and other northern Victoria regional locations are dealing with significant disruptions caused by Victoria's record-breaking floods.

"Roads in and out of Shepparton, Mooroopna and surrounds are effectively cut by flood waters, so several companies have suspended access to/from the Port of Melbourne and closed their operations temporarily," CTAA director Neil Chambers said.

"There are export commodities such as pasteurised milk to SE Asia and other dairy products with a limited shelf-life which are the hardest hit by the delays, as well as some urgent freight destined for Tasmania."

The coronavirus pandemic exposed many of the weaknesses in the global supply chain.

Research from the University of Melbourne has shown that during the first 12 months of the pandemic, demand for food relief in Australia doubled. More people were pushed into food insecurity, including casual workers who lost jobs, temporary migrant workers and international students.

University of Melbourne senior lecturer in food systems Dr Rachel Carey, said natural disasters and the pandemic revealed that Australia needed to strengthen the resilience of its food supply.

"The flooding that is occurring at the moment in various states, we're likely to see further impacts of that on food prices," she said.

"We have a narrative in Australia that we're a food secure country. We had a narrative in the past that this isn't something we need to worry about, because we produce so much food. But that narrative isn't helpful, because it masks these underlying vulnerabilities in our food chain."

Global food prices hit a record high in March of this year, as the combination of lockdowns, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and natural disasters took hold.

"Government needs to take more responsibility and accountability for our domestic food supply here in Australia. We have ministers for basic things that impact our life like water, transport, education - we don't have a minister for food," Dr Carey said.

Food insecurity is any uncertainty associated with getting enough food and compromised nutrition to disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.

A study conducted by Foodbank of 4000 Australian adults found a notable rise in food insecurity in Australian households in the last year.

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The report, released this week, said 21 per cent of Australians had experienced severe food insecurity in the past 12 months. That's more than two million people.

Dr Carey said regional and remote Australians, as well as those on low incomes, were most vulnerable to food insecurity.

"The main response we have to that now is charitable emergency food relief provided by charities through food banks," Dr Carey said.

"That food is often highly processed, it might not be healthy enough, it might not be culturally appropriate for people and it also involves significant stigma and shame in accessing food in that way."