Earlier this month, Professor Jonathan Rushton, Department of Livestock and One Health, delivered a keynote speech at the Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (AARES 2024) Conference in Canberra.
Known as the John Crawford keynote, Professor Rushton’s lecture was entitled ‘Moving away from ‘food at any cost’ to restore our food system balance’. It focused on the economic impact of our food systems and how we can address the global issue of malnutrition (under and over) by changing our food systems.
Professor Rushton commented: “The food system has never been so successful in terms of providing food at a reasonable price for a rapidly growing population. Yet the underlying mantra of this success has been “food at any cost”, creating both environmental problems and a rising number of obese consumers.”
AARES explores the grand challenges that are facing the Australasian region and beyond, such as biosecurity, climate change, environmental degradation, energy system transitions, and food security.
The overall theme of the AARES 2024 conference was ‘Grand Challenges at the Frontier of Applied Economics’.
Professor Rushton leads the Global Burden of Animal Diseases programme at the University of Liverpool. He is renowned for his work in the economics of animal health and food systems. The goal of GBADS is to evaluate the burden linked to diseases affecting food production animals, increasing the economic potential in developing countries, and use that to create more sustainable food systems.
Professor Jonathan Rushton also featured on Country Today to discuss his research and keynote speech at the conference, which is available to listen on Soundcloud. He also made an appearance on ABC Country Hour which is available from 36 minutes and 18 seconds into the programme.