ESTIMATION:
Amount of food to be produced within the region as a percentage of the amount consumed within the region.
KEY FIGURES:
500% = 5 times the amount of food required for the population is produced.
100% = total self sufficiency.
0% = no food is produced.
DESCRIPTION:
Estimates have been made for the amount of food required for the average Australian population. For your carrying capacity estimate to include all food for a given population, choose 100%. Choosing less than 100% implies that some food will be imported from outside the region and choosing more than 100% implies that some food might be exported.
REFERENCES:
Estimates of average food intake - National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Estimate of average production - ABS
ESTIMATION:
The amount of meat and eggs consumed by the population as a percentage of all food consumed.
KEY FIGURES:
13% = Average Australian consumption estimate.
7.5% = Recommended healthy level including meat, eggs and dairy.
2.5% = Vegetarian diet with no meat but including eggs and dairy.
1.5% = Vegetarian diet with no meat or dairy but including eggs.
0% = Vegan diet with no meat, eggs or dairy.
DESCRIPTION:
In carrying capacity assessment it is important to consider a range of potential dietary choices. This category allows you to alter the protein source of a population’s diet. As such, it infers an average across the entire population even if individuals eat varied sources of protein. Please note that all diets for 7.5% (recommended healthy diet) and less are modelled on the recommended intake of protein, carbohydrates and fat (as well as micro nutrients in some cases). However, diets of more than this percentage may not be as balanced as they reflect average Australian consumption patterns rather than recommended intake. In order to balance the diet, the amount of dairy tends to vary considerably, whereas meat and egg consumption change less dramatically. This is merely a consequence of making extrapolations from the NHMRC diets. It should also be noted that as meat, eggs and dairy decrease in the diet, nuts and legumes increase considerably while vegetables and grains increase to a lesser extent.
REFERENCES:
Average Australian consumption: ABS
Recommended healthy level and Vegetarian diet with no meat but including eggs and dairy: National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
All other diets are extrapolated from the NHMRC by calculating similar intake of protein, carbohydrates and fat.
ESTIMATION:
The percentage of red meat as a proportion of all meat (red and white) consumed by the population.
KEY FIGURES:
100% = Only red meat is eaten (no white meat).
64% = Average Australian consumption estimate.
0% = Only white meat is eaten (no red meat).
DESCRIPTION:
This category allows you to regulate the proportion of red and white meat in the average diet of the population. Please note that if you have chosen a vegetarian diet in the Meat-eggs-dairy category, then any choices made in the Red meat amount category will have no impact on the carrying capacity estimate.
REFERENCES:
ABS
ESTIMATION:
The average level of physical activity for the population.
KEY FIGURES:
3 = High level of physical activity (eg. more than 90 minutes of daily strenuous activity).
2 = Moderate level of physical activity (eg. 30-90 minutes of daily strenuous activity).
1 = Sedentary level of physical activity (eg. less than 30 minutes of daily strenuous activity). This is the current Australian average estimate of activity.
DESCRIPTION:
The activity level of the population will affect the amount of food that the population needs to consume as higher levels of activity require more energy.
REFERENCES:
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
ESTIMATION:
The cumulative average amount of otherwise edible food that is wasted in the process of production, transportation, retailing and consumption, as a proportion of all food produced.
KEY FIGURES:
12% = Average Australian estimate.
DESCRIPTION:
This represents just the waste that theoretically could be avoided. There is also unavoidable waste which includes inedible portions (eg. banana peal) and weight loss through cooking and processing.
REFERENCES:
There is little detailed Australian-based data available for avoidable wastage so in many cases U.S. data was used: US Department of Agriculture
and US Department of Agriculture.
ESTIMATION:
The average amount of recycled food wastage fed to farm animals including pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys, farmed fish and farmed seafood.
KEY FIGURES:
0% = Average Australian estimate. At present a negligible amount of food waste is fed to farm animals at a commercial level.
DESCRIPTION:
This category allows the waste from food processing and consumption to be recycled back into food production by feeding it to farm animals. It is acknowledged that food wastage can also be recycled as compost but at this stage a calculation has not been determined which would indicate how the amount of food recycled as compost would directly correlate to the amount of food produced from that compost.