The State's vulnerability was exposed earlier this year when food imports briefly exceeded exports, according to former federal bureaucrat and land management expert Dr Andrew Campbell.

"If the current drought continues, Victoria could struggle to be a net food exporter within a couple of years," he said.

"There is no one magic bullet but government has to start looking at the whole food-chain security."

The crisis has brought traditional political adversaries to the table for the first time, with the Australian Conservation Foundation, farmers, policy specialists, corporate managers, restaurateurs, retailers and scientists uniting to explore what can be done to save Victoria's food production and delivery network.

A report sponsored by the group — Paddock To Plate: Time to Rethink Food and Farming, by Dr Campbell — pinpoints land degradation, lack of water, rising fuel costs, climate change, international competition, undervaluing of farm produce and a lack of communication and planning by governments as significant contributors to present and future dangers.

"Business as usual in Victorian food production is not good enough and governments must act now to secure our position as a producer of clean, green premium food," said Corey Watts, ACF rural landscapes co-ordinator.

The group believes that other nations are moving ahead with food security planning while Australian governments sit on their hands.

In Britain, for example, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has directed the cabinet office to devise a national strategy for sustainable food security.

"This means a whole-of-government response that cuts across traditional departmental boundaries around issues like obesity, regional development and climate change," said Mr Watts.

"There is no reason why Victoria can't do the same, but it needs leadership and commitment at state and federal levels, with bipartisan support.

"What is at stake is too big and despite many landowners' valiant efforts we have just been tinkering around the edges.

"It is time to join the dots between agriculture and health, how we grow and transport and store food, the fuel we use, the way we shop.

"Victoria cannot meet the demand for organic produce, yet there are no water restriction exemptions for people growing their own vegetables.

"We need new leadership right across the system."