Farming; Do we do it wrong in Australia?

I've always believed two things about farming; one, that as unsexy and unmarketable as it is, it's the cornerstone of our entire society, We might think email and petrol-driven transport and inflation controls are important, but without adequate food production civilised society would collapse in a matter of hours.

The other is that I'd never have the heart for it. Aside from the strangling economic factors always eroding the profitability and labour base of the farming sector, there always seems to be extreme drought or flooding further ruining the chances of farmers to make a decent living. At the moment we're having the driest winter on record where I live.

It's all very well to blame global warming, and yes things have changed dramatically in the last few years, but there's something unique about Australia's climate anyway.

The conquerors who settled here came from the cold, wet climes of Europe, which was perfect for the production of winter fruits and livestock. One look at the flora and fauna of Australia should have told them they were mad to try and farm the land here.

Now we're a country of 20 million and the pockets of arable land with enough water supply in the southernmost pockets of the country will hardly be enough to sustain us any more.

In continuing to demand potatoes for roasting, crunchy apples, beef, pork and sheep-based livestock, we might be demanding more than this country can give. We inherited European (especially English) tastes, especially tastes for hot roast meats, stewing vegetables and dairy-based food.

But none of them grow here naturally, we haven't got the rainfall or the ecosystem. We should look at what's successful here. Instead of trying to raise beef with it's insatiable thirst for grass and water, there's a billion kangaroos roaming the country. Even the harshest environments produce berries and roots that sustained Aboriginal people for over fifty thousand years. They roamed the entire country, inhabiting climates from the wettest, coldest Tasmanian winters to the most unforgiving dry of the outback.

And it's all already here, already thriving in an ecosystem that it's evolved perfectly to take advantage of. A real Australian meal might not be a roast chicken on Sunday, a steak and chips or a meat pie, but a open-barbecued goanna, bush yams and witchety grubs. Within the next generation, we might not have much choice