Reconsidering our food habits as climate and waste pressures grow

Reconsidering our food habits as climate and waste pressures grow

As climate change, population growth and ecological decline reshape how food is produced and consumed, finding solutions will require more than changing what we eat. RMIT experts say tackling food security, waste, packaging and climate risk depends on rethinking everyday food practices and the multiple systems they are a part of.

Dr Bhavna Middha, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies

"Conventional approaches to sustainable eating, such as carbon footprint calculators and lifecycle analyses, have helped raise awareness. However, we may need to redefine ‘sustainable eating’ beyond framing food as simply ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

"It is what we do in daily life that generates resource use, including food and packaging waste, rather than consumption being an individual outcome or motivation.

"Focusing on everyday practices, such as how we shop, store and prepare food, shifts attention away from the food itself to the act of consumption.

"Current approaches often focus on visible actions, like composting or buying organic, while overlooking routine, less visible forms of consumption embedded in systems and infrastructure.

“For example, big houses sometimes have multiple fridges, leading to higher energy consumption, bulk buying and possibly food waste. 

"An important question is how food becomes waste. These moments show that waste is produced through the organisation of everyday life, both individually and collectively. Even an expensive grocery item like meat gets wasted quite often, as weekly shopping trips and bulk buying mean it gets stored and sometimes forgotten. 

"Policy responses to single-use packaging often overlook how deeply embedded these materials are in our lives, and the inequities that change can create. The burden of reducing waste frequently falls on households, particularly low-income groups and women."

Dr Bhavna Middha is a sustainable consumption scholar and Deputy Associate Director of the Regenerative Environments and Climate Action Theme at RMIT's School of Global, Urban and Social Studies. 

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Dr Natalie Jovanovski, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences

"Exploring how we engage with food, and the challenges we face, reveals more about healthy eating than focusing only on what is on the plate.

"We need to understand our relationship with food through a multidimensional health lens, where physical, psychological, social, environmental and cultural factors are addressed together.

"Australia’s dietary guidelines focus largely on nutrients and portions. Future approaches should also consider the social determinants of health and include the voices of people who face challenges in maintaining healthy food practices.

"To improve food practices, we cannot focus only on behaviour change or only on structural factors. Both our everyday choices and the decisions of those in positions of power shape how and what we eat."

Dr Natalie Jovanovski is a health sociologist and Vice Chancellor's Senior Research Fellow in RMIT's School of Health and Biomedical Sciences and Social Equity Research Centre (SERC).

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General media enquiries: RMIT External Affairs and Media, 0439 704 077 or news@rmit.edu.au

01 April 2026

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01 April 2026

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