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The HEALTHY STORiES = GOOD FOOD event had a focus on Action Track 1 with the recognition that the other action tracks relate to Action Track 1 as shifting to sustainable consumption patterns, building resilience to shocks and stress etc are fundamental determinants of ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all. This consideration of all action tracks also aligns with Indigenous knowledges of the interconnectedness of food system elements, people and the natural environment. This is reflected in the HEALTHY STORiES = GOOD FOOD artwork, where Jarrod says, "In this artwork I have tried t... Read moreo represent HEALTH STORiES in a number of ways. In the middle of the painting is a group of people eating - we come together at meal time. The situation in which we eat is equally as important as the food we eat. Surrounding these are nuts, berries and witchetty grubs - important traditional food sources that our old people survived off for millennia, we need to take lessons from these (even if our food sources have changed) and watch what we are eating always. Stretching in four directions are the journeys we make for food, with a yam plant in each corner and bush food extended off of the branches. This represents our health journey, there are many paths we can take. The hands and spirals represent the relationships to people we have. These can also be important in our relationship with food, we need to surround ourselves with the right people and also encourage each other to eat well and nurture each other in times of health and illness alike." In this dialogue, HEALTHY STORiES = GOOD FOOD 3, we explored the theme of food affordability and pricing for healthy food in relation to the community food retail businesses and levers of change for improved community health and wellbeing. Food insecurity is experienced by the majority of households in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Food prices are dramatically higher than in urban centres due to remoteness, high food retail business overheads, limited food retail business buying power; incomes are dramatically lower due to limited employment opportunities and/or western-imposed views on what constitutes work, lower education attainment. We showcased innovative initiatives led by Indigenous communities and leaders as such initiatives can be overlooked by governments and organisations, perpetuating a history of imposed and inappropriate policy-action that is neither effective nor sustainable for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Underpinning our event was the recognition of the human right of Indigenous Peoples to participate in and lead decisions impacting their lives, communities, culture and lands. We featured community stories from: Thursday Island, Northern Queensland - Fruit and Vegetables in focus (quality & pricing improvements), CEQ Thursday Island Store Laynhapuy Homelands, Northern Territory - Homeland stores: An essential services health model, Laynhapuy Homelands Aboriginal Corporation (LHAC) Read less

The following actions emerged from the discussion points for further discussion and consideration on who should take this action, ways progress could be assessed and challenges that might be anticipated with implementation. 1. Appropriate policy be in place to support intergenerational Indigenous food system knowledge transfer, for food and water secure communities and protected environments 2. There be continued policy investment in provision of groceries and home goods to homeland communities. Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation provide a model of how this can be done. 3. There be adequate inve... Read morestment in infrastructure and workforce development for Indigenous led local food procurement and production enterprises in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities 4. There be continued investment in infrastructure improvement to enable remote store businesses to provide quality, affordable and a full range of grocery items to communities These discussion topics focus on the role of government policy in commiting resources to enable remote communities ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all,enable sustainable consumption patterns etc. Read less

The natural environment has provided for the nourishment and health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples for millennia with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in turn managing and caring for the environment. The intergenerational knowledge of the natural foods, their growth, harvesting, preparation and conservation continues. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples since settler colonisation continue to fight for access to and ownership of their customary lands and waters, and for the protection of the environment. April Campbell, Assistant Teacher an... Read mored Coordinator for language and culture, in the Ti Tree Farm Garden Store film, speaks of the importance of passing knowledge of the food and waters to the younger generations so they can continue to fight for access to these and for their protection. The critical importance of intergenerational transfer of Indigenous knowledges of food, water, country, kinship and culture for health and wellbeing and environmental sustainability was a recurring theme that emerged from the events films and the curator’s interview with Associate Professor Elaine Maypilama. Dr Maypilama shared the story of her childhood of living with her parents ‘on country’ and her learning about the plants, animals, the environment and people's relationship with the environment. She emphasised the changes that have happened in the food system in her lifetime. A further theme was how Stores and Takeaways enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to live on their country with their families. This was illustrated by the Tucker-Run film. Without the delivery of food to homelands, a large proportion of people’s income is spent on travel for food and other goods. Not all people living on homelands in Australia however have this service available to them. Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation are a not-for-profit organisation and bear the cost of this service. Local and Indigenous owned food enterprises (such as Bawinanga WildFoods enterprises, SEISIA meatworks and community farms/gardens) are important to secure a sustainable food future for remote communities and provide affordable options for communities. These enterprises also advance equitable livelihoods providing opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to participate in the local economy whilst enabling looking after of resources and passing on knowledge to younger generations. These enterprises however require adequate investment in infrastructure and workforce development and appropriate government policy to support this and provide flow on resource commitment as commented about by Floyd Constable in the dialogue. There has been a history of good-intent community garden/farm initiatives in remote communities of Australia that have failed due to inadequate foresight of capital and human resources needed for these ventures. There are stories of success however to learn from. Stores can help make locally sourced foods available to the community as shown by the Maningrida Wild Foods Café, and Ti Tree farm gardens and store. Community gardens can also familiarise children to different types of store plant foods as shown in the Ti Tree farm gardens film. A further discussion point was how the quality and range of store food available to people living in remote communities has improved since the 1990s due to government investment in food delivery routes and store infrastructure. Provision of a quality food service to remote areas of Australia however is costly. Continued investment in infrastructure is needed to maintain a quality and affordable food supply in remote communities. This needs urgent consideration particularly in light of the vulnerability of the food supply to remote communities in Australia as demonstrated with Covid-19 and the future shocks to the food supply that are likely to occur with climate change. A further reason why local food production initiatives need serious consideration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community leaders. Read less

The HEALTHY STORiES = GOOD FOOD event had a focus on Action Track 1 with the recognition that the other action tracks relate to Action Track 1. This consideration of the relatedness of action tracks aligns with Indigenous knowledges of the interconnectedness of food system elements, people and the natural environment. This is reflected in the HEALTHY STORiES = GOOD FOOD artwork where Jarrod says, "In this artwork I have tried to represent HEALTH STORiES in a number of ways. In the middle of the painting is a group of people eating - we come together at meal time. The situation in which we eat ... Read moreis equally as important as the food we eat. Surrounding these are nuts, berries and witchetty grubs - important traditional food sources that our old people survived off for millennia, we need to take lessons from these (even if our food sources have changed) and watch what we are eating always. Stretching in four directions are the journeys we make for food, with a yam plant in each corner and bush food extended off of the branches. This represents our health journey, there are many paths we can take. The hands and spirals represent the relationships to people we have. These can also be important in our relationship with food, we need to surround ourselves with the right people and also encourage each other to eat well and nurture each other in times of health and illness alike." In this dialogue, HEALTHY STORiES = GOOD FOOD 2, we explored the theme of food supply, food delivery and local food economies in relation to the community food retail businesses and levers of change for improved community health and wellbeing. We showcased innovative initiatives led by Indigenous communities and leaders, as such initiatives can be overlooked by governments and organisations, perpetuating a history of imposed and inappropriate policy-action that is neither effective nor sustainable for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Underpinning our event was the recognition of the human right of Indigenous Peoples to participate in and lead decisions impacting their lives, communities, culture and lands. The stories of community initiatives featured: Maningrida, Northern Territory - Wildfoods Enterprises (commercialisation of local foods) and Tucker-Run (supplying groceries to homeland residents), Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation Ti Tree, Northern Territory - Remote community garden supplying the store, a community meals program and teaching children about Indigenous foods, Ti Tree Farm Garden Store Cape York Region, Northern Queensland - Local Indigenous run abattoir supplying local remote store, Seisia Meatworks Read less

The actions that emerged from the story-telling, presenters and panellist discussion for further discussion and consideration were: 1. Non-Indigenous Peoples be trained on how best to support Indigenous leadership and be ready to learn from Indigenous peoples before engaging with communities and when in community 2. Training be structured so Indigenous Peoples are training Indigenous Peoples 3. Funding schemes (such as grants for infrastructure improvement and workforce development) recognise the essential service role of stores and takeaways across remote Australia to enable stores provide a ... Read morequality service to their communities including the provision of healthy, quality and affordable food and goods 4. Focus be on improving the quality, affordability and healthiness of pre-prepared meals in remote communities through provision of training and employment opportunities for Indigenous Peoples 5. There be consideration of co-design with Indigenous Peoples of a regulatory framework implemented and adequately monitored to ensure standardised quality store and takeaway business practices across all remote community food retail businesses that support the provision of quality, healthy and affordable food and other essential goods. Read less

A number of findings emerged from our HEALTHY STORiES = GOOD FOOD event that were presented at the AMSANT food security summit in June 2021 to stimulate further discussion to support healthy, affordable and sustainable food systems in remote Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are leading transformation of their stores and takeaways to be healthy through innovative policy that recognises the impact that food price, availability and promotion/marketing has on food choices and community health. Non-Indigenous people can assist this transformation by supporting Indigenous Peo... Read moreples as trainers of their own people, and providing technical support and evidence/information to inform policy-making where needed. With appropriate training opportunities, the food retail sector is contributing to the training, preparation and aspirations of future store business leaders, Aboriginal corporation leaders, and community leaders. Funding opportunities (such as grants for infrastructure improvement and workforce development) are necessary to enable stores and takeaways to provide a quality service to their communities and continue to strengthen store policy that promotes healthy affordable and quality food for all. A regulatory framework with inbuilt funding incentives co-designed with Indigenous Peoples could potentially support standardised store and takeaway business practices for quality, healthy and affordable food and goods including professional advice readily available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander store directors. With appropriate and adequate training and infrastructure support, takeaways in remote communities can offer quality, affordable and healthy meals. Read less

The HEALTHY STORiES = GOOD FOOD event had a focus on Action Track 1 with the recognition that the other action tracks relate to Action Track 1 as shifting to sustainable consumption patterns, building resilience to shocks and stress etc are fundamental determinants of ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all. This consideration of all action tracks also aligns with Indigenous knowledges of the interconnectedness of food system elements, people and the natural environment. This is reflected in the HEALTHY STORiES = GOOD FOOD artwork, where Jarrod says, "In this artwork I have tried t... Read moreo represent HEALTH STORiES in a number of ways. In the middle of the painting is a group of people eating - we come together at meal time. The situation in which we eat is equally as important as the food we eat. Surrounding these are nuts, berries and witchetty grubs - important traditional food sources that our old people survived off for millennia, we need to take lessons from these (even if our food sources have changed) and watch what we are eating always. Stretching in four directions are the journeys we make for food, with a yam plant in each corner and bush food extended off of the branches. This represents our health journey, there are many paths we can take. The hands and spirals represent the relationships to people we have. These can also be important in our relationship with food, we need to surround ourselves with the right people and also encourage each other to eat well and nurture each other in times of health and illness alike." In this dialogue, HEALTHY STORiES = GOOD FOOD 1, we explored the theme of the policy role of stores and take-aways in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in relation to community health and wellbeing and levers of change. We showcased innovative initiatives led by Indigenous communities and leaders as such initiatives can be overlooked by governments and organisations perpetuating a history of imposed and inappropriate policy-action that is neither effective nor sustainable for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Underpinning our event was the recognition of the human right of Indigenous Peoples to participate in and lead decisions impacting their lives, communities, culture and lands. Themes explored were how locally harvested foods in communities can be made available for sale through locally (Indigenous) operated and owned take-away businesses and that the employment and training of local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in these enterprises can provide meaningful employment and livelihood pathways. A further theme was the importance of creating opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in food retail and business operations to train other Aboriginal Peoples and the benefits and cultural appropriateness of this type of training. This theme also explored how the provision of quality training in kitchen operations and food preparation for Aboriginal Peoples can help ensure the availability of healthy meals and prepared foods in remote communities and thereby contribute to the health of the community, where presently access to healthy pre-prepared foods is limited. Issues raised were that current government funding schemes do not recognise store businesses as providing essential services to remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and yet store businesses and the quality, range and price of foods and goods they provide directly impacts the health and wellbeing of the community. Many store businesses operating in remote Australia particularly those owned by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have prioritised health and wellbeing in their store policies and wear the business costs of these bold and innovative policies. Recognition by government of the health-promoting role of food retail businesses in communities and the potential health-cost benefit of these store policies by provision of funding incentives could strengthen the uptake of these policies across remote communities to the benefit of all communities. Read less

There was no major area of divergence among the participants.

2. Climate change, Plant Health and Biodiversity Conservation: making the connection This session discussed the interconnection between climate change, plant health and biodiversity conservation. Key take-aways of the session: Plant health does not only protect agricultural production, it also protects our ecosystems and biodiversity against invasive pests and diseases – what the International Plant Protection Convention calls quarantine pests. For this reason, the IPPC has cooperated with the Convention on Biological Diversity for 20 years. Climate change, biodiversity conservation and plan... Read moret health are centrepieces in the endeavours to preserve the health and life of the human population by ensuring food security and a healthy and diverse environment. Ensuring the success of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, and synergies among biodiversity-related conventions is crucial. We need to strengthen capacity for active monitoring of pest dynamics in biodiversity hotspots and ex-situ and in-situ sites, and modelling for future risk assessment and preparedness. The germplasm health, virology, and diagnostics play an important role in plant health. We need to focus on intellectual property policies and regulations around the access and benefit sharing of genetic resources. Challenges of germplasm exchange include: - Emerging new diseases and insect pests. - Minor pests and diseases are becoming important due to the climate change. - Variable standards and different phytosanitary demands. - Limited funding for preventive measures. Climate change and biotic threats are among the key contributing factors for genetic erosion. Increased support for the collection and safe conservation, characterization of biodiversity ex-situ and in-situ collections are needed. It is also important to enhance support to develop and use of technologies for safe conservation and exchange of germplasm, and prevent the risk of pest spread with germplasm distribution activities. We need to support development of globally accepted policy/system for expedited distribution of pre-tested germplasm crucial for climate change adaptation. It is beneficial to maintain public and private partnerships for conserving seed biodiversity. The development of coherent and user-friendly legislations for the conservation, access, use and benefit sharing of genetic resources at the national, regional and international levels is important. Read less

1. The Impact of Climate Change on Plant Health This session discussed the relation between climate change and plant health. Key take-aways of the session: In general, all important life-cycle stages of insect pests, pathogens, and weeds (survival, reproduction and dispersal) are more or less directly influenced by temperature, relative humidity, light quality or quantity, wind or any combination of these factors. The physiological processes of most pest species are particularly sensitive to temperature. Under warmer air temperatures, especially in early spring under temperate climatic conditi... Read moreons, life-cycle stages in the host plant may occur earlier. This can affect pathogens that infect the host during a particular life-cycle stage. Climate change may thus threaten food security with impacts on food crops and plant-based animal feed. Climate change will result in increasing plant health problems in managed (e.g. agriculture, horticulture, forestry) and semi-managed (e.g. national parks) ecosystems, and presumably in unmanaged ecosystems as well. Adjustments in phytosanitary policies and plant protection strategies are already necessary, and will be even more crucial in the future. The most effective way to prevent and limit the global spread of pests from trade and passenger movement is through regulatory means, phytosanitary import legislation, pest risk analysis, surveillance and monitoring, best management practices and information exchange. - Pest risk analysis activities need to be intensified on national, regional and international levels, and climate change considerations need to be included into the assessment of pest risks. - National, regional and international surveillance and monitoring activities for plant health threats should be intensified. Multilateral surveillance programmes should be developed to offset phytosanitary threats. - National phytosanitary authorities are encouraged to carry out an IPPC-recommended phytosanitary capacity evaluation to determine if their phytosanitary capacities are sufficient to address plant health risks, including those presented by climate change. - International cooperation, including international information exchange on trade flows, pest occurrences and pest interceptions are crucial. We need to improve understanding of climate change effects on complex interactions: establishment of a global mechanism for research coordination, and multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder collaboration, coordination, capacity building and knowledge exchange in climate-change biology research would be beneficial to tackle the issue. - Considering climate change, a global surveillance system would help countries respond to increased risk and uncertainty. The direct impact of climate change on the effectiveness of management strategies, particularly for chemical and biological control measures should be evaluated. More studies are needed on below-ground pests, on below‑ground processes and their influence on soil health. More research in forestry and unmanaged ecosystems is also needed. It is important to develop consensus on data collection standards and access protocols, and deploy FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) data principles. Data access for risk analysis purposes would benefit decision-making processes and preparedness of Ministries and National Plant Protection Organizations’ officials. Read less