www.myprice.com.au

It appears that 'Buy Australian' is much more difficult in recent years with so many variation of this ideal. This is made even more difficult as even at the farm level there are wheeling and dealings going on which could see Australian farms being owned by overseas countries. There is no doubt that farmers go through cycles of drought and floods with small periods of ideal conditions when bumper harvests make the bulk of savings for those leaner times.

So you could buy something that is Australian Owned, Made and Grown and yet it's not 100% Australian because the farm is owned by an overseas group. However, realistically these overseas owners are more than likely to farm the land with the sole intention to export the food overseas as some regions around the world do not have enough fertile land to provide for their growing populations. In 2010 the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resources found 11.3 percent of Australia's farm land was part or fully owned by overseas interests.

Fortunately, some cash strapped farmers have wised up to this land grab and are prepared to take a lower price from an Australian buyer as recently reported in the Weekend Australian March 24-25 titled 'End of the Family Farm', but that ideal leads itself to a third party arrangement where an Australian buyer then on sells to the farm to an overseas investor.

It is likely that with the cheaper processing costs available overseas that we could be be growing food in Australia, exporting overseas and then re-importing the finished product into Australia. Could this be the norm in 20-30 years time? Once fertile land is sold to overseas interests it's unlikely Australian's will ever buy this back.

So what can we do. Firstly read the labels and learn more about what is happening to this great Country. Buy Australian when your finances permit and supporting your local farmers will take those farm 'For Sale' signs down and at the very least slow down the overseas sales of this great country.

A few businesses trying to make a difference are Aussie Farmers Direct and Dick Smith Foods, both with a focus on Australian Grown and Owned.