What was it all about?

This project modelled the impact of increased vegetable consumption on government health expenditure and producer returns, with its findings providing a clear economic rationale for investment in initiatives to increase vegetable consumption in Australia.

Key findings included that:

• If Australians ate 10 per cent more vegetables per day, all levels of government could reap $100 million per year combined in health savings
• If Australians ate 10 per cent more vegetables per day, vegetable growers would be supported with an estimated $23 million per year in additional profit
• More than 90 per cent of Australians fail to eat the recommended intake of vegetables per day, representing a large opportunity to increase vegetable intake. Currently the average Australian eats 2.3 serves of vegetables a day, short of the recommend five serves or 375g.

In regard to vegetable consumption, the project found that:

• Men eat fewer vegetables than women, with 3.8 per cent of males consuming adequate vegetables compared to 10.2 per cent of females
• Australia ranks 63rd in the world by apparent consumption of vegetables per capita
• Tasmanians are Australia’s highest vegetable consumers, but still only 12 per cent of the local population are consuming the recommended daily intake
• Vegetable consumption generally increases with age, peaking among 75 to 84-year-olds
• ‘Fruiting vegetables’ such as corn and pumpkin are the top vegetables consumed by Australians (excluding potatoes).