Maggie Beer, of ‘The Cook and the Chef’ fame, has taken up the issue of food security with Delegates at the recent Planning Institute of Australia National Congress. She, like others, were there to remind delegates that the issue of food security  and community planning must go hand in hand, and that planners need  to understand that if agricultural land continues to be carved up to make way for urban development, Australians will lose more than just beautiful rolling hills. Consumers are becoming more and more interested in where their food comes from and want to know under what conditions it is produced.   Ms Beer was keen to remind planning professionals that urban areas close to agricultural land is an Australian model that needs to be protected. As a restaurateur and also a primary producer Maggie sees food security from a practitioner’s viewpoint which values quality of produce and it’s marketability to cities.