Business Case

Part A: The Business Case

1.       The vast majority of Australians are not eating the recommended serves of vegetables.

2.       Low vegetable consumption is causing poor public health outcomes and escalating the health cost burden.

3.       Attempts to lift vegetable consumption in Australia have not improved the national position.

4.       The economic, social, and environmental payback from investing to lift vegetable consumption is compelling.

5.       Pooled resources would more effectively deliver the scale of shift that is now required.

6.       There is much goodwill among stakeholders to collaborate on addressing this national crisis.

Part B: The funding and governance model

The Fruit & Vegetable Consortium brings together parties from the health sector, government, NGOs and the vegetable supply chain to collaborate in order to deliver:

1.       Improved long term health outcomes for Australians through increasing consumption of healthier and more delicious vegetables.

2.       Reduced national health costs through the preventative health benefits associated with increased vegetable consumption.

3.       Economic benefits to regional farming communities engaged in vegetable production.

4.       Environmental benefits to all Australians and the planet.

The potential reduction in national health costs from this program present a compelling argument for the Commonwealth Government to contribute seed funding for its establishment and development.

Part C: The Behavioural Change Strategy

Behavioural change programs are essentially social marketing that ‘stitches together’ and coordinates the collective efforts of multiple interested parties around a common framework. The recommendation for a behavioural change model rather than a marketing program alone, is that there are a range of factors constraining vegetable consumption, which vary across different cohorts and meal occasions, therefore a wide range of targeted and nuanced interventions is required beyond advertising alone.

The central thrust of the behavioural change strategy is to educate, inform, inspire and empower Australians to consistently have positive eating experiences with vegetables with a secondary message that quietly points out the underpinning health and nutrition messaging.