Vegetables promoted as cost-saving option for families

Australian vegetable growers are urging households to eat more locally grown produce, saying it could help ease cost-of-living pressures while improving public health.

The call comes as annual inflation reaches 4-point-6 per cent for the year to March, driven partly by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and rising fuel and input costs.

Despite broader price rises, the latest ABS figures show vegetable prices actually fell by zero-point-two per cent over the same period.

Industry body AUSVEG says vegetables remain one of the cheapest healthy food options available, with carrots selling for less than two dollars fifty a kilogram in many supermarkets, while broccoli, onions and pumpkin are also being widely discounted.

A recent HealthyLife report found vegetables average around seventy-four cents a serve, compared to ninety cents for processed discretionary foods. AUSVEG estimates a family of four could save almost twelve hundred dollars a year by replacing junk food with the recommended five serves of vegetables each day.

Chief Executive Michael Coote says the message is especially important as Australian families and growers continue to face financial pressure. He says eating more vegetables supports household budgets, improves health outcomes and backs local growers supplying almost all of the nation’s fresh produce.

The industry is also promoting the “Plus One Serve” campaign, which aims to encourage every Australian to eat one extra serve of vegetables a day by the year 2030.