COMMENT: If you think Australia’s drought has nothing to do with you, think again.
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Many farmers on the outskirts of Orange are battling to feed their sheep and cattle and it’s heartbreaking to hear what farmers such as Des Taylor are going through on a daily basis as they wait for rain.
Despite his family having lived on the land for nearly 160 years, Mr Taylor says he can’t see his children being able to carry on the tradition and can’t help but feel resentful that more’s not being done to support Australia’s agricultural industry.
Like many people who live on the land, Mr Taylor is an optimist who is hopeful a heavy rainfall in the next six weeks will prove his saviour.
However, the reality is that he may be forced to do what many other farmers have done and sell up large pockets of his land in order to survive.
Like many who work in primary industry Mr Taylor is fighting for the future of his industry and the right of all of us to be able to have access to Australian-made food.
Mr Taylor wants to see the federal government push to have a labelling system that allows consumers to make informed decisions about who they support.
It’s pretty simple really. If you want to support the Australian agricultural industry the easiest thing you can do is insist the food you buy and eat is Australian grown.
According to Ausbuy, a company designed to encourage consumers to buy Australian goods, 85 percent of the products in the average Australian grocery trolley are either imported or made by foreign-owned companies, resulting in $100 million a day going outside Australia.
While most people prefer to buy Australian, it’s often impossible to tell Australian goods from imported ones because of confusing labelling.
Let’s make the effort to put our money where our mouths are and buy Australian-made goods.