Value of Australian grown food

[DanXR6T]

Hi all,

Just wondering as we often discuss this at work, what value do people place on domestically produced food?

Do you always look for Australian or don't care where it is made?

Do you think food is too expensive? As an example I spend $100/wk on food, so I spend about 14% of my net salary on food. Yet I spend 34% on my car. Food is pretty cheap in my opinion.

If Australian grown food was triple the price of imported food, would you even consider it?

Dan...

[Yellow_Festiva]

Food is probably seen as expensive due to the tripple digit mark ups at the shop front. How many times you hear that farmers are getting SFA (ie 30-40c per kg) at the farm gate but then you pay $5.99/kg for the same stock....

If this sorta thing was more regulated I think a lot more Aussies would be buying home grown. But the reality is, if a tin of imported tomatoes is 55c for 410g, and the Aussie brand is $1.29 for the same item i know what I would be buying.

While I have bills and a mortgage to pay my money goes to the cheapest price, and sad to say the majority of that is through imports.

[Kryton]

i dont even look at where the food comes from, i dont really care.
i wont by no name food (except suger and things like that) call me a prude - whatever.
having worked in the Dairy Industry for the last 6 years previous to last year, i know what kind of mark up there are and what the farmer gets paid.
as a matter of fact, the Dairy farmers mostly get paid decently, the factory even sells for a decent price but its the resellers that bump the price right up.
example: a big Big M will be sold from the Factory to the reseller/merchant/whatever you want to call him for 83 cents a carton. the reseller sells them to milkbars, supermarkets etc. go to the milk bar and see what it costs to by a big Big M.

[pertuan]

I will try to buy Australian but majority of the time, it is just ridiculously over priced. Why would I pay 10 bucks for a product when I can get the same imported for 3? I'm all for supporting local industry and such but if I did that, I'd be in the poor house.

[asusdragon]

i pretty much the same davway will buy usually the cheapest but will not by homebrand etc etc etc maybe sugar and they type of stuff as for more fresh produect like F&V and milk i usually like to buy western australian stuff as it fresher, but really i walk into a shop know i need this this and this get it and get out dont stand there reading whats in it or where is from expect F&V where i will take my time as i have managed F&V departant before and only eat really fresh product like straight out of the cooler

[Jason[98.EL]]

i manufacture machinery for the farming industry at the moment

i have 2 of the biggest growers in werribee (spelling) vic) and they keep telling me the prices they get for a full box of cauliflower is around the same we pay ( if i dont get the box or 2 ) in the supermarket for a whole caulie (they put aprox 8-10) depending on size

so i say the farmers (and the companies ) are getting screwed

[kremmen]

I will never buy generic coles woolworths etc brands, coz if you do then the other range of stuff will slowly not be restocked until all you can buy is coles woolies owned brands therefore screwing everyone and increasing their bottom line.

I buy oz produce if its a bit dearer, but if its crazy expensive i just go without or buy other stuff.

P.S. Food is really expensive, I have been on a health kick eating fresh veges/fruit daily and its crazy how much it costs a week

[gz1]

Originally Posted by DanXR6T

Hi all,

Just wondering as we often discuss this at work, what value do people place on domestically produced food?

Do you always look for Australian or don't care where it is made?

Do you think food is too expensive? As an example I spend $100/wk on food, so I spend about 14% of my net salary on food. Yet I spend 34% on my car. Food is pretty cheap in my opinion.

If Australian grown food was triple the price of imported food, would you even consider it?

Dan...

Wow only $100 per week. My weekly food bill is over $400. But I there are 4 of us and those 2 kids eat well. So yes I do think food is getting expensive.
And I always buy Australian unless I have no other choice. Perhaps I should start considering imported stuff, but then again I know what that would do to the Aus farmers, so I'll resist that until I can no longer afford to.

[BAFalconXT]

I always buy Australian, whatever the item is. Being produced here is most important, then owned and operated here. Only things that are not able to be produced here well, I do not buy. That is why I drive a Falcon and drink Coopers.

Australian companies have to produce at very high standards compared to asia, where most cheap food comes from. Having worked in the food industry here, I can only imagine food production in some asian countries. :

[Geez Louise]

I buy organic....And it nearly always has to be Australian! $100 would only buy fruit for a week....Organic is expensive!!!

[Dazza XLT]

I shop locally for Fruit and Veg. Most of it is grown around here, so you know its local, and fresh.

All meat is Australian purchased from the local butcher.
Everything else, I try to get Australian made where I can.

Cheers

Darran

[dave289]

At the moment you at least still have a choice.With coles and woolworths creating their monopoly by their low style of tactics.I have seen first hand an employee from woolworths come across to the little guy fruit shop about 15 metres away and without even trying to conseal what she was doing went about the shop with pad and pen writing down all his prices to then go over and lower the prices at woolworths to undercut this struggling little guy trying to provide us with some fresh fruit.it is then only a matter of time before he is forced to shut shop.then over at woolworths they can charge whatever they like usually a hell of a lot more than you were paying when joe the friutier was still open.not only that they will buy the cheapest fruit to increase profits.now you get worse fruit at much higher prices.who nows they will buy mainly overseas products which are not as fresh but much better for THE COMPANY.
i would prefer to buy australian but often dont know if i am or not.a banana still smells like a banana to me ,so i dont always know where is was grown.enjoy your chioce while you still have one.

[sleekism]

I always buy my meat from a butcher but that is because the meat at Woolworths and Coles is terrible.

I really wouldn't bother buying Australian produce. The same farmers who want a protected agriculture are the same ones who will push for zero tariffs on imported manufacturing items and no limit to immigration.

I'm not about to buy Australian so Farmer Bob can buy a imported Toyota Landcruiser and donate to the National party campaign to bring in AWA's and cheap labor from China and this is coming from someone from a farming family.

Agriculture is a finite resource. Let other countries wreck their soil and then in 20 years time when the world has 10 billion people and a food shortage then we can start making some real money.

[ubute]

Coming from someone from a farming family, I'd sooner lick a dog's balls than buy produce from overseas (particularly asia) at least from a food safety angle, as at least i've got a better idea where a dog's balls have been (and they're probably more hygenic too).

Australia has probably the highest food standards in the world. Just to be able to sell to a supermarket chain you have to have a Quality Assurance program on a farm and conform with HACCP food safety program (http://www.haccp.com.au/) and go through yearly QA audits. Add to this some of the highest labour costs in the world, at that explains the high cost of Australian produce.

It's been well documented that agricultural practices in a lot of other countries leave a LOT to desire, including the usage of pesticides/herbicides are banned for use in Australia.

It doesn't make sense that someone would buy meat from a butcher cos the other stuff is terrible, yet is quite happy to buy tomatoes for example that were grown overseas and probably fertilized by someone going out into the paddock and taking a dump under the plant (yes human waste is used as fertilizer some places), not to mention were probably grown in contaminated soil and sprayed then harvested within the withholding period of the pesticide.

[Polyal]

Ill always buy Australian if I can, but not if there is a massive price difference for no gain.

BUT I WILL SAY THIS.

What the hell is safeway/woolworths doing with its lemons. In Tassie and VIC they all are imported from America. Are you seriously telling me that no one is Australia is harvesting lemons?! Its been annoying me for the past few weeks.

/rant

[sleekism]

Originally Posted by ubute

Coming from someone from a farming family, I'd sooner lick a dog's balls than buy produce from overseas (particularly asia) at least from a food safety angle, as at least i've got a better idea where a dog's balls have been (and they're probably more hygenic too).

Australia has probably the highest food standards in the world. Just to be able to sell to a supermarket chain you have to have a Quality Assurance program on a farm and conform with HACCP food safety program (http://www.haccp.com.au/) and go through yearly QA audits. Add to this some of the highest labour costs in the world, at that explains the high cost of Australian produce.

It's been well documented that agricultural practices in a lot of other countries leave a LOT to desire, including the usage of pesticides/herbicides are banned for use in Australia.

It doesn't make sense that someone would buy meat from a butcher cos the other stuff is terrible, yet is quite happy to buy tomatoes for example that were grown overseas and probably fertilized by someone going out into the paddock and taking a dump under the plant (yes human waste is used as fertilizer some places), not to mention were probably grown in contaminated soil and sprayed then harvested within the withholding period of the pesticide.

Point taken.

You are correct that Australian food is second to none in safety standards but I still believe we should not place a tariff on imported produce. Well at least not a financial tariff I would like to see scrutineering of imported produce to meet health standards.

There is a crisis in Australian agriculture with salinity, declining soil productivity, desertification and loss of topsoil among other things. Globally there is going to be massive food shortages as many countries (China a prime example) face declining food production and an increasing population (China has already lost 30% of it's productive land). I would rather us use up other countries soil resources while we have a glut and preserve our soil for the future.

[ubute]

Sleekism - Yeah we are paying for the sins of previous generations of poor agricultural practices, but the days of the "if it moves shoot it, if it doesn't chop it down" mentality are mostly a thing of the past. There's a big shift of emphasis nowadays to sustainable farming practices with regard to environmental management because if the land is suffering then so is your productivity and hip pocket, so it makes sense to look after it better. Just watch Landline on the weekend on ABC to see how things are improving.

Anyway I digress... I typically prefer to buy Australian stuff where possible, at whether it be owned, grown or processed here so at least some of the money is retained locally. Sure it usually costs more but then if it helps the economy then its going to help me in return so its win-win in the long run. I get a warm and fuzzy feeling and Australia stays awesome in return :P

Like DanXR6T, I think food is pretty cheap especially considering its the most basic necessity of life (along with beer) so I don't mind spending a bit more to live.