Why eating local is a matter of good taste

NEARLY half of all shoppers go out of their way to buy home-grown when shopping, while more than a third buy Aussie wherever possible.

NEARLY half of all shoppers go out of their way to buy home-grown produce when doing the weekly shop, while more than a third buy Australian wherever possible.

With imports rising by $500 million in a year, The Daily Telegraph asked its readers about their shopping habits and whether they cared where their food came from.

About 70 per cent were not swayed by price over provenance of food and 66 per cent checked the country-of-origin labels to see where their food came from before buying.

A whopping 93 per cent wanted more clarification in food labelling when a product stated it was made from imported and local ingredients.

A third would pay an extra $2 for Australian-made and grown produce, 21 per cent would pay $5 more and 14 per cent would add $20 to their bill.Fourth-generation farmer Dan Owens was happy consumers were willing to pay extra for home-grown produce. "By buying Australian produce consumers are getting fresher produce with more nutrients than something that has been transported around the world," said Mr Owens, who raises cattle and sheep near Bathurst.

"When we sell cattle we have to write down what goes into it and I'm not sure the same measures are taken in other countries."

The Australian Food Statistics 2010/2011 report shows that imports have risen by $500 million in a year to $10.6 billion, with processed fruit and vegetable having the biggest growth, up by $119 million. The top five countries Australian imports from are New Zealand, China, the US, Italy and Finland.

New Zealand was the most trusted source of food outside Australia, with 67 per cent surveyed giving our trans-Tasman counterparts the thumbs-up, followed by the US at 20 per cent.

Only 1 per cent of those surveyed trusted China, despite it being the second biggest source of Australian imports of processed fruit and vegetables. William Churchill from AUSVEG, which represents the nation's vegetable growers, said processors and retailers were under the impression that consumers were not willing to pay extra, but the survey showed otherwise.

"It's good to see values of supporting your fellow countryman holding true because consumers are happy to pay to keep producers on the land," Mr Churchill said.

He said most imported vegetables were frozen.

But local farmers produced enough vegetables to supply the processed and frozen vegetable market, he said.