Australia’s vegetable industry is working to increase consumption with a school education programme and Ausveg’s new consumer-focused social media channel.
Ausveg has been trialing a new Instagram account to promote its ‘Eat More Aus Veg’ campaign, which is designed to address the barriers of eating more vegetables.
The accountprovides consumers with recipes, practical information about how they can make meals with a variety of vegetables and tell stories behind the farmgate to help consumers put a face to the vegetables they buy.
Shaun Lindhe, national manager – communications of Ausveg said, the campaign would help consumers discover what vegetables are in season, and the the best ways to use them,
“Ausveg will be looking to partner with the broader industry, including growers and the entire supply chain, to provide consumers with information about how to make their vegetables the hero of the plate and to tell the stories of the heroes who grow their vegetables all year round,” Lindhe said.
“We will be using social media to provide practical tips about how to easily make the most of their vegetables, which will hopefully lead to people wanting to buy more vegetables.”
The vegetable industry’s efforts to increase consumption have also extended to schools with the CSIRO’s Taste & Learn programme.
Developed using the Hort Innovation Vegetable Fund,the programme uses activities shown to improve kids’ willingness to eat vegetables and provides primary school teachers lesson plans.
Belinda Adams, deputy chair of Ausveg, said that Taste & Learn will be an important tool to help encourage children to want to eat more vegetables and to equip teachers with the resources to teach kids about their vegetables.
“Educating children about vegetables and encouraging them to want to eat more is critical to improving the health and wellbeing of our children. A vegetable-rich diet in childhood has been proven time and time again to improve physical and physiological development in children and can be a strong influence in dietary choices as they move into adulthood,” said Adams.
“If we can teach our children and students to eat a variety of vegetables and appreciate the taste and texture of different vegetables, then we can dramatically improve the health outcomes of the Australian population well into the future.”
