Living in a hungry world - or perhaps a greedy one, comes with an appetite to seek and survive. With that appetite also comes a need for security. Follow our panel discuss whether the future of our food security in Australia is in jeopardy.

To ensure the security of food in our country we need the knowledge that in the foreseeable future we will be able to stock our shop shelves, farm our fields, and be able to produce our own food at a primary level.

While we are only one of many nations striving to feed our populations, and one that has so far avoided any form of hunger or famine, questions circle as to whether we should protect our resources for our own consumption or whether we should share it around.

The main issues plagueing the minds of the concerned lie with the importation of foreign products and the increasing foreign ownership of farms.

The presence of imported products has been criticised for discouraging a healthy level of employment given that much of that imported product lands on our shop shelves at a lower price than our locally grown or manufactured product.

And regarding the foreign ownership of land, our options range from maximising the opportunity of trade and export by allowing others to buy or lease Australian land compared to using food from our farms to feed our own population.

Dr. Peter Carberry from the Department Dir.CSIRO Sustainable Agriculture Flagship in Toowoomba says Australia needs to realise its place on the global stage.

"This is a global challenge, Australia doesn't really have a food security issue, we produce enough food to feed ourselves that is quite adequate, and many other countries in the world are not able to do that."

ABC South East was joined by a panel to discuss whether the future of Australia's food security is in jeopardy.

The panel:

Professor Michael J D'Occhio, Co-Leader Food Security Focal Area, Global Change Institute, University of Queensland

Part 1: Introduction

Outlined the difference between global food security and national food security.

Global food security - quite simply, it's overcoming poverty in the world.

National food security - managing and sharing natural resources given the competition for water and land.

"The nation must decide how to come together to agree where to go in the future."

Part 2: Viability of farms

We need to decide as a nation whether food supply is important.

At the moment we don't have a national sign off on the importance of food or in maintaining arable land and supporting rural and regional communities, we haven't even got to that point yet."

Identifies the conflict between federal and state regarding land use.

"The challenge is to get the whole of Australia engaged and then the politicians will listen."

Part 3: Consumption

"If we look at the situation in Australia, we haven't been through circumstances that Europe has been through and developing countries.

"Australia has lost respect for food and it's because the cost of food as a proportion to income, for most Australians, is less than five-per cent."

There is too much wasteage, "Who can ever remember their grandma throwing food away?"

"Food is wasted in Australia, food is lost in the developing world."

"Eating more of what's currently out there is also part of the answer."

Part 4: Looking for a solution

"We're not working closely as a community with our farmers."

"We don't pay enough money back to our farmers, the people that put in the hours to get the health, nutritional and safety values to us."

"Every country wants to feed its people, we need to look at why China wants to buy farms here."

"Do we really value our regional and rural communities?

"Everyone who goes to the supermarket is looking for a discount - is that really the way to look at food?

"If we want quality and diversity in food in 2050 and beyond as a nation perhaps individually we should be carrying some of that price."

Dr. Peter Carberry, Dep. Dir.CSIRO Sustainable Agriculture Flagship, Toowoomba

Part 1: Introduction

The Flagship was started by CSIRO to address major issues affecting Australia.

Part 2: Viability of farms

"Research is a foundation for the productivity growth needed to go into the future factoring in growing populations and increasing middle classes in Asia so we need to grow that much more food in the next 40 years."

"Underpinning that has to be research and development."

"We need to find new ways to produce food more efficiently than we have done in the past."

"The challenges of an increased population compared to food production, some of the land will be competing for production of trees and other enterprises."

Part 3: Consumption

"Australian farmers do a fantastic job under variable climates and often harsh seasons."

"They're probably the best in the world at producing agriculture with the environment we've got."

"A key thing that the Australian farmers are doing and that the Australian community does is support global food production."

"Much of Australian food is exported to places where they need that food."

"It also provides CSIRO and universities a foundation to research its role in the future development."

"This is a global challenge, Australia doesn't really have a food security issue, we produce enough food to feed ourselves that is quite adequate, and many other countries in the world are not able to do that."

Part 4: Looking for a solution

"The rise in food prices in 2008 and 2010 led to riots in many countries and has even been called the root of the Arab Spring."

"The technology we develop in Australia can play a major part in helping global food security."

Lynne Wilkinson, CEO Ausbuy, Crows Nest NSW

Part 1: Introduction

"From our perspective, if we don't own the assets, then the benefits don't come back to Australia."

"We have a key proposition that ownership profits jobs, skills and reinvestments to stay here."

"If we lose control of our wealth-creating-assets then it's going to have long term implications on our people."

"We're saying to the world, we are the lucky country with a for sale sign - we see it as a sovereign risk with little thought for long term implications."

Part 2: Viability of farms

Refutes claims that too much of Australian produce is exported, "Most of what we grow here is kept for Australian consumption."

"We empower customers to make purchasing decisions which will contribute to Australia's long term benefit."

"What concerns us greatly is that we've signed free trade agreements with countries that do not reciprocate the opportunity for our people, namely trade agreements with America."

"There is so much misinformation around and our key proposition is ownership and control which requires long term planning."

Part 3: Consumption

"Many of products that are processed here, we don't have country of origin on our labels e.g. unrefridgerated juice on shelves."

"Our farmers are price takers not price makers and that makes it hard for them to dictate anything."

"Governments have allowed the threshold to be enormously high for companies to be bought."

Part 4: Is there a solution?

"If you're eating healthy food, essentially raw food we do something with at home, that is our long term health, but our labelling laws are not indicating the place of origin."

"In Australia we are being complicit, allowing control beyond the farmgate, whether its a foreign owned country wanting a share of our market."

"We have an enormous capacity, we have always shows ability in innovation and have a capacity to be better global citizens if our people are in control of our assets rather than foreign countries or companies."

Wendy Hollick, Vigneron, Food Critic and Broadcaster, Restauranter, Coonawarra, South Australia

Part 1: Introduction

"I get fairly steamed up about these things - having looked at the green paper, it's a huge scope, and you wonder whether you're going to make any policy changes," she said, of her sumbission to the National Food Plan.

Part 2: Viability of farms

"If Australian land owners cannot sell to the overseas market, and there's no one in Australia wanting to buy, where does that leave everybody?"

"Baby boomers are wanting to sell but no one is buying because the income on farms is dropping."

Part 3: Consumption

"The green paper said more than 90 per cent of food made in Australia is sold in Australia - the fact is that too many consumers don't buy fresh fruit and vege, they buy frozen stuff which is imported product."

"I don't think the consumer realises that."

Part 4: Is there a solution?

"We know we're a food bowl in the South East, we must become a sustainable one."

"There are an enormous amount of challenges."

"Get voting, get political."

You can join the discussion by calling talkback (08) 8724 1000 or on facebook or on twitter @abcsoutheastsa