Aboriginal Food Practices and Australian Native Plant-Based Foods: A Step toward Sustainable Food Systems

Abstract

The current food system and food choices have resulted in the increased human use of natural resources such as water and soil, and have directly impacted the ‘Global Syndemic’—climate change, obesity, and undernutrition. Revitalising Indigenous food systems and incorporating native plant-based foods into current food systems may have the potential to reduce diet-linked chronic diseases and environmental degradation, and are important steps toward Indigenous rights and self-determination. This study aims to identify and describe Aboriginal food practices and Australian native plant-based foods and their social, environmental, and economic impacts on sustainable food systems. A scoping review was conducted using the five-stage framework informed by Arksey and O’Malley. To describe the results, the framework for sustainable food systems from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations—FAO was used. Articles were included if they described the impacts of Aboriginal food practices on sustainable food systems, were confined to studies that were conducted in the Australian context, and included native Australian plant-based foods. A total of 57 studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria. The major social impacts incorporated the nutritional and health benefits of Australian native plant-based foods, such as antidiabetic properties, anticancer and antioxidant activities, and cultural identification, involving Aboriginal ecological knowledge and their connection to their country. Within the environmental impacts category, studies showed that Australian native plant-based foods have environmental stress tolerance and some ecosystem benefits. The main economic impacts discussed in the literature were the source of income for remote communities and the potential market for Australian native plant-based foods. This review demonstrates that Aboriginal food practices and Australian native plant-based foods can contribute to more sustainable food systems and diets and give more voice and visibility to Aboriginal knowledge and aspirations. More research and investments are needed to face the challenges of including these foods in our current food systems.