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The price of bananas here in Australia continues to be very high due to the
Cyclone Yasi - here's a news item a couple of days ago from the ABC (Australian
Broadcasting Corporation) website
High banana prices may stay, expert says
By Lauren Day
Posted Fri May 27, 2011 7:50am AEST
A food security expert says the surge in banana prices shows that Australia needs a national food
plan to avoid a crisis.
Months after Cyclone Yasi devastated 75 per cent of the north Queensland banana crop, the price
of bananas has gone as high as $15 a kilogram.
Professor Michael D'Occhio from the University of Queensland says Australians may have to get
used to soaring food prices.
"We may not continue to enjoy the availability and price of food that we've enjoyed up until now,"
he said.
He says Australia needs a plan and a change in attitude.
"People in developed countries have this sort of mindset that everything should be available and it
should be at a price that they think they should be paying," he said.
"It also reflects how spoilt we are as Australians in that we want to continue to have the luxury of
walking into the supermarket.
"Every time we do that, having on display in front of us - all the kinds of fruit and vegetables and
dairy products and meat products that we're accustomed to - having laid out in front of us."
Professor D'Occhio says rising populations around the world are also putting upward pressure on
food prices.
"The national psyche hasn't really realised what's occurring globally in terms of the demand for
food and in particular the fresh, healthy, nutritious, safe and consistent food Australia provides,"
he said.
He says the global demand for food is expected to double by 2050.
A banana plant at Avalon:
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