Buying in-season fruit and vegetables could save a family $50 a week on the food bill

Nutrition Australia is encouraging families to do one simple thing to help ease cost of living pressures and yet stay healthy.

Nutrition Australia is encouraging families to buy seasonal fruit and vegetables to help ease cost of living pressures which are reducing the amount of fresh produce we are eating.

With more than 90 per cent of Australians not eating the recommended daily amount of vegetables, and one in four children aged 5-14 being diagnosed as overweight or obese, the Healthy Returns campaign, in partnership with Health and Wellbeing Queensland and the Outdoor Media Association, encourages saving money and improving nutrition by consuming in-season produce. It also offers recipes from Australian chefs to make it easier to get meals on the table.

“A recent report found seven in 10 Brisbane shoppers say the cost of fresh produce is influencing the amount of vegies they eat,” Health and Wellbeing Queensland chief executive Robyn Littlewood says.

Buying food in-season enhances its flavour and it lasts longer when you bring it home.

“By highlighting the savings you can pocket with in season vegies, we hope we can encourage everyone to engage in healthy eating habits (and reduce) the cost of the weekly grocery shop.”

Nutrition Australia chief executive Lucinda Hancock agrees. “Vegetables are at the very centre of healthy eating and a critical part of our diet for people of all ages. They offer great nutritional value and are undoubtedly the best bang for grocery buck.”

LOWER FOOD BILL

Melbourne mum Stephanie Spence, 41, is trying to teach her three boys – Levi, 7, Felix, 4, and one-year-old Hugo – to eat seasonally, knowing it will improve their nutrition and cut her weekly food bill.

“Sometimes they just like to eat what they always eat. But my husband is involved in agricultural science and he has taught me about the importance of seasonal fruit and veg, and why it’s so much cheaper.”

Spence purchases a $65 box from Farmers Pick each fortnight (and usually boosts it with $25 of more fruit) and finds, because the goods are in season, they have better flavour and keep for longer.

A Farmers Pick produce box.

“It is drastically cheaper than buying from the supermarket, and families of four can probably save between $50 and $80.”

She says her family eats a wider variety of meals – “we love winter warmers and then the crisp, fresh tastes of summer” – thanks to the seasonal choices in her box and she can nominate any foods her family does not eat.

CUTTING FOOD WASTE

Farmers Pick founders Josh Ball and Josh Brooks-Duncan started the Melbourne-based business during the pandemic to prevent “wonky” produce from farms being wasted and to help families with a convenient and cost-effective way to mix up their menus.

Only 55 per cent of vegetables produced in Australia are actually consumed due to losses in the supply chain and wastage in the home.

“Food waste is the No.1 thing that we can reverse and change in terms of climate change, so we wanted to connect farmers to consumers and give them something that really makes them feel like they’re having an impact one box by box or one bendy carrot at a time,” Brooks-Duncan says.

Josh Brooks-Duncan (left) and Josh Ball, founders of Farmers Pick.

He says customer costs are kept 30 per cent lower than supermarkets by using cheaper imperfect produce lines, having a short supply chain where produce goes out within 48 hours, and the plentiful supply of in-season produce.

“If you look at asparagus in season in spring it costs $1 a bunch, but right now it’s being imported from the US and it’s $5 a bunch. People have forgotten how to eat seasonally and it really costs them to eat the same foods all-year round. We grow three times the amount of food we need in Australia so it doesn’t make sense to import it,” Brooks-Duncan says.

Farmers Pick works with more than 50 farmers and has 15,000 customers. The service is available in Victoria, NSW and the ACT with southern Queensland launching later this year and plans for Adelaide at a later date.

Originally published as Buying in-season fruit and vegetables could save a family $50 a week on the food bill