Melbourne’s food future: Planning a resilient city foodbowl

Abstract

Melbourne is surrounded by a highly productive foodbowl that currently grows a wide variety of fresh foods, but it faces challenges. • Melbourne’s foodbowl grows 47% of the vegetables produced in Victoria and has the capacity to meet around 41% of Melbourne’s total food needs. • As Melbourne grows to a population of 7-8 million people by 2050, it will need at least 60% more food. • If the city’s footprint continues to grow as it has in the past, the capacity of Melbourne’s foodbowl to meet the city’s food needs could fall to around 18% by 2050, due to population growth and urban sprawl. • Loss of production in the foodbowl is likely to contribute to higher food prices. • Melbourne’s food..