Campaign to get another vegetable on your plate

Vegetable growers will soon launch a new campaign to encourage people to add another vegetable to their meal or dish.

The campaign, which will be launched later this month, builds on the established five-plus a day campaign, but Vegetables NZ chairman John Murphy said it tempers that earlier message.

The new message is to add another vegetable to a dish or meal, such as tomato to avocado on toast, radish to a salad or zucchini, in addition to the grated carrot added to bolognaise.

Murphy said not only is it good for consumer health, but it also adds different flavors.

He is confident the Coalition Government recognizes the importance of New Zealand’s highly productive country and the importance of the vegetable industry to food security.

He said the government still needs to provide some protection to the sector and food production in general by ensuring that growing vegetables remains a permitted activity following the reform of the Resource Management Act (RMA).

“Essentially it needs to be recognized in the RMA and it is an essential pathway for growers that vegetable growing is a permitted activity.”

The government has also introduced a fast-track approval process for selected development projects and has indicated it wants to free up more land for housing development.

That could threaten high-quality soils in the Pukekohe and North Waikato vegetable growing regions, as Auckland’s appetite for residential development sees the city continue to grow.

Murphy said the devil is in the details, but he is confident food security will be at the heart of all decisions and said the government recognizes the importance of protecting rare, high-value soils.

He said industry standards ensure that activities and management essential to vegetable production are carried out correctly, such as the use of water, fertilizers and chemicals.

He would like to see these standards better recognized by local authorities.

“They have to tailor policy to what is needed,” he said.

While bordering our most populous region can pose the risk of urban encroachment, Murphy says there are also benefits for growers who are on the doorstep of our most populous city, giving them easy access to a large market and labor.

Labor shortages were eased when border restrictions were lifted following the coronavirus crisis, but Murphy said his board is aware they need to look to the future, promote opportunities and encourage people to seek careers in the sector .