Fruit and vegetable consumption and waste in Australia

Recommendations towards a food supply system framework that will deliver healthy food in a sustainable way. In 2007, Emily Morgan was one of fifteen Americans to be granted a Fulbright Postgraduate Scholarship to Australia. A Tufts University postgraduate student and former Mount Holyoke College graduate, Emily carried out her Fulbright research on the relationship between food, health and the environment. This project was completed at VicHealth, under the direction of nutrition promotion and food policy expert Dr Tony Worsley and in collaboration with the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at Deakin University. Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Waste in Australia iii Contents Executive Summary 1 Preamble 4 Introduction 5 The Australian Food System 7 How do we conceptualize the food system? 7 The sectors of the food system 8 Challenges to improving the system 9 Major forces on the food system 10 The role of government 11 Recommendations 11 Consumption and Waste in Australia 12 How much is enough? 12 Consumption data 13 International data 13 National nutrition survey 13 National children's nutrition and physical activity survey 13 National health survey 14 State-based consumption data 14 Waste data 15 Recommendations 18 Drivers for change 19 Health and the link with fruit and vegetable consumption 19 Cancer 20 Cardiovascular disease 21 Diabetes 22 Other conditions 22 Environment and its relationship with the food system 24 Climate change 24 Water usage 29 Biodiversity conservation and ecosystem health 31 Ethics and the food system 32 Environmental ethics 32 Human ethics 32 Animal ethics 34 Economics and the future of the food system 35 Current efforts to change the paradigm 36 Efforts to increase fruit and vegetable consumption 36 International 36 'Go for 2 and 5 ® ' campaign 36 'Go for your life' 37 Other efforts 37 Efforts to minimize and better manage food waste 39 Minimizing food losses along the supply system 39 Better managing food losses along the supply system 42 Minimizing food losses at the consumer level 44 Better managing food losses at the consumer level 44 Whole-of-system approaches to improving the food system 45 Recommendations 47 Conclusion 49 Culture change 49 Summary of recommendations 51 References 53 Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Waste in Australia 1 Executive Summary Food is essential to human existence and healthy, nutritious food is vital for living life to its full potential. What we eat and how we dispose of it not only …