Food imports: the full picture revealed

Smart mapping company Esri Australia has developed an app that clearly visualises on a world map where Australia is sourcing its food.

The interactive map, which displays the top five countries from which Australia imports processed and unprocessed fruit and vegetables, meat, seafood, cereal, diary and sugar, shows that Thailand, China and Vietnam dominate the importation of frozen and processed seafood to Australia.

Esri used trade statistics for primary products from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) along with Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to develop the smart map app.

According to Esri, during the past five years, New Zealand was the major source of food brought into Australia, while, processed food imported from China, particularly fruit and vegetables, has increased.

Country of origin labelling, meanwhile, has continued to draw commentary, with environmental group Greenpeace the latest organisation to call clearer labelling on Australian seafood products.

It is calling for fish in both retail and food service to be labelled with the species of fish and where it was caught through its Label my Fish campaign.

“Australians need to know where their fish was caught, not where it was battered,” Greenpeace said.

Australian Certified Organic also says it is reviewing how its widely recognised Bud logo is applied to imported organic products.

The review of the Australian Certified Organic logo is scheduled to conclude in late April with recommendations to be put forward to clients and other related parties for comment.