We are what we eat—and in an era of climate change, food is the canary in the mine. Prices are rising, droughts and storms are affecting farmers, and the global model of food production is under challenge. Food Chain explores our complex relationship with the food we eat.

In the lead essay Margaret Simons examines the crisis in the Murray-Darling river system and its impact on Australia’s food bowl. Reframing sustainable food production, this piece will change the way you think about what you eat.

Food Chain features many of the best thinkers about sustainability, agriculture and the cultural importance of food. It ranges from farm gate to supermarket shelf, from the factory to the fridge, nationally and internationally—with a detour into the kitchens of celebrity chefs. It will be an agenda-setting contribution to the most urgent discussion in Australia at the beginning of 2010: how climate change affects us all.