The consumer wields an extraordinary power to affect change.

In the age of rampant materialism, where price usually trumps loyalty, few could have expected such a seismic shift in the buying habits of shoppers.

But it’s happened, the change writ large on supermarket fridge shelves across Wagga and the nation.

The more expensive branded milk is walking out the door, with Lake Albert IGA reporting a staggering 40 per cent increase in purchases of local milk and Coles and Woolies also noting a dramatic shift in buying habits.

Some might expect a region steeped in farming history, such as ours, to stand as one with farmers in a time of crisis.

But it hasn’t always been the case.

From citrus to winegrapes, our farmers have long been drowning in a flood of cheap imports, and subjected to absurd labelling laws and voracious major supermarkets.

Yet they haven’t experienced the same tide of support as the dairy industry.

Milk, of course, is a staple and the injustice thrust upon dairy farmers has received blanket media coverage.

When influential TV host Waleed Aly this month delivered an impassioned plea for shoppers to snub cheap, home-brand milk, they listened.

So too did politicians, with both the Victorian and federal government unveiling multi-million dollar rescue packages in the days that followed.

Fearing a PR disaster, some of the companies that had only just slashed the farmgate milk price suddenly “readjusted” their prices.

None of this would have happened without the media shining a spotlight on the issue and the consumer responding to it.

We can only hope the milk crisis helps shine a broader light on two words that seldom get uttered in the national debate – food security.

Our region – the food bowl of Australia –  has more at stake in this fight than other.

If a vast, fertile land like Australia became a net importer of food, it would be a source of national shame.

You can help stop that happening.

Just as you have with milk, you can help thousands of Riverina farmers by simply shopping with a conscience.