If you want to push your particular issue up the political agenda, then it is necessary to add "security" to your noun eg "water security", "climate security" and "education security".

I think that there should be a national campaign to emphasize "food, fibre and fuel security".

On Friday September 11 2009 I spoke in Brisbane at the Queensland AGFORCE 2009 State Conference. This was an appropriate anniversary on which to be speaking about new approaches to "security"!

 People now expect more "safety" from their governments. There has been a revolution of "rising expectations" in which people now have increased wealth. They want their lifestyles protected and they want to enjoy life on this planet now (if only because, with the decline in religion in Australia, they are no longer confident that there is a better life awaiting them beyond the grave)

Meanwhile there has been a broader definition of "security". The traditional definition had a military focus. The new definition has a much broader focus and includes economic and environmental social factors. Governments are slowing catching on to the new definition.

I suggested to the Brisbane conference that there be a national campaign on "food, fibre and fuel security". The three components are inter-related: for example, fuel transports food and so more expensive fuel will flow on into the price of food, while food can become a form of vehicle fuel (eg ethanol) and hence the current rise in some food prices.

Returning to the theme of urgency and security, the Great Depression in the 1930s and World War II obliged US President Franklin Roosevelt to re-invent the modern presidency and government. The US finished the war in 1945 as the global super power.

Therefore a crisis can enable new thinking to suddenly erupt and new policies to be developed. President Bush used "9/11" (September 11 2001) for the "politics of fear" but he could easily have used it for more positive purposes eg to get Americans off their addiction to Middle Eastern oil and develop alternative energy sources.

I believe that the present economic crisis could now generate a similar sense of urgency to "9/11". Barack Obama promised "change" during the 2008 election campaign and many Americans voted for him (with a record numbers of voters, not least young people).

Could the crisis be used to reorganize the US? The website www.greenforall.org is listing some of the new ideas now underway, such as:

(i) solar electricity industry: "eco-tricity"

(ii) new "green collar jobs" eg making homes more energy efficient, eliminating heat loss

(iii) organic gardening on deserted city lots (good for growing food, enhancing social cohesion, and giving people exercise)

(iv) First Lady Michelle Obama is now following Mrs Roosevelt's World War II example of growing vegetables on the White House south lawn.

A crisis is a terrible thing to waste. We need in Australia a similar sense of urgency and the creation of a national strategy to plan for food, fibre and fuel security.

Keith Suter

UPDATE: 27th September 2009.

The dust storms seen over the east coast of Australia this week are a timely reminder of the importance of protecting our precious top soil.  Picture taken by the Shack-Evans family who are taking part in the Simpson Desert bike challenge this week.