Horticulture industry research and development corporation, Hort Innovation, has launched a new R&D program aiming to increase the daily vegetable consumption of Australians by one serve a day, which the organisation says could contribute $3.3 billion across the vegetable supply chain.
Hort Innovation has funded a six-year program through the healthy living theme of its Frontiers co-investment program, announced last year. Developed in direct response to alarmingly low and declining daily vegetable consumption, it will incorporate insights and lessons from global best practice programs to maximise outcomes for industry and growers
The organisation told F&DB it had invested $4.9 million from the vegetable levy for the coordination of this program, and additional funds had been drawn from Frontiers to finance the research projects.
Australians today are only consuming on average 1.8 serves of vegetables per person per day – which is 135g, or around half a cup of vegetables – instead of the recommended five pieces per day. Increasing daily vegetable intake by just one serve per person per day adds up to more than 9.1 billion additional serves annually, or 680k tonnes of vegetables consumed.
Hort Innovation CEO, Brett Fifield, said the chronic underconsumption of veggies affects all Australians, which means eating one more veggie every day will have a positive impact on everyone.
“Consider better health, less pressure on our health system, our growers prospering, job creation, less waste – and all of this leads to a positive impact on the broader economy,” said Fifield.
“We know that only 6.1 per cent of Australians are eating the recommended five serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit per day. By increasing the number of veggies consumed by just one serve, we would expect to see a $3.3 billion increase in value to the vegetable industry.”
The research program – overseen by Hort Innovation – has been co-designed by more than 48 cross-sector organisations spanning industry, research science, healthcare, government and community outreach to understand the most effective ways to get Australians to eat an extra serve of vegetables each day.
This program took approximately two years to design, involving an extensive consultation process with focus groups. Details of the co-design process and national strategy are available in the report for Hort Innovation’s Plus One Serve of Vegetables by 2030 project.
The R&D program is being led by AUSVEG and will be supported by The Growth Advisory, Fiftyfive5 – part of Accenture Australia, Akcelo, and AgEcon. It will cover a range of research projects, carried out by a number of providers to ensure optimal insights into behaviour change principles, to help create a healthier Australia.
AUSVEG CEO, Michael Coote, said critically low and declining vegetable consumption in Australia has been a major concern for many years, presenting major concerns for the long-term viability of Australia’s vegetable industry.
“By boosting vegetable consumption, there’s a multi-billion-dollar, triple-bottom-line of benefits to be realised – it’s good for Aussie vegetable growers, it’s good for the national economy, and it’s good for the health of all Australians,” said Coote.
The program will run until 2030, with the organisation stating it expects to see every dollar invested yielding a $12.30 return over six years.
