News on Food Trends from Oceania

Potato growers attending today’s potato research and development (R&D) workshop in the Lockyer Valley in south east Queensland will hear about exotic and endemic biosecurity risks facing their businesses, and the practical steps they can take to protect themselves.

Australia’s vegetable and potato industries have backed calls from northern Australian growers for the expansion of the Seasonal Worker Program, to address major labour shortages in horticulture.

In Australia McCain is attempting to entice shoppers to buy their cooked potato chips in their local supermarket through the use of scented advertising panels dispensing the scent of cooked chips at the push of a button.

The Australian vegetable and potato industries are calling for consumers to be given certainty about the food they are eating once-and-for-all, through refined Country of Origin Labelling (CoOL) laws, according to AUSVEG.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has released the first phase of the 24th Australian Total Diet Study (ATDS) which looked at Australian consumers’ dietary exposure to acrylamide and aluminium.

Claims New Zealand potatoes do not pose a “substantive risk” to the Australian industry have been slammed as irresponsible and reckless by AUSVEG.

AUSVEG, will host a series of potato research and development (R&D) workshops in South Australia this month, as part of activities arranged for the Potato Industry Extension Program.

Dr John Baker, a soil scientist who was a finalist for the World Food Prize in 2013, is calling for the authorities to look at soil quality when preparing environmental policies. He says that while most local bodies have robust policies to address air and water quality, they overlook soil quality.

Recent research has linked the rise of fussy fruit and vegetable eaters in Western society to the population’s increased development of allergic asthma over the past 50 years.

Potatoes South Australia Incorporated, the peak industry body for the potato industry value chain, has been awarded funding of AU$409,800 (excl GST) through the Federal Department of Agriculture’s National Landcare Innovation Grants for a two year project which will help develop a more reliable soil Phosphorus test.

The mighty potato has pushed out tomatoes to take the title of New Zealand’s number one favourite vegetable.

Owners of an old carpet factory in Devonport (Tasmania) have held informal talks with the Devonport City Council about a conversion to a potato processing factory.

While the potato industry is still waiting for clearance to be allowed to send fresh potatoes to Australia, a new market is rapidly opening up. The industry has high hopes for a new market in Vietnam.

Australian minister for the Environment, the Hon. Greg Hunt MP, has launched the new EnviroVeg smartphone app for farmers, to help them manage their land sustainably.

A new study of 741 consumers released by the Australian vegetable industry today reveals almost one third of consumers have shown significant interest in buying more Asian vegetables.

Today’s reports that Simplot’s two vegetable processing plants at Bathurst and Devonport will remain open for at least another three years has been welcomed by peak industry body, AUSVEG.

New research has been funded through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, to help the potato industry reduce issues caused by an insect intruder – the tomato-potato psyllid.

The Potato Marketing Corporation of Western Australia has started a campaign to increase the consumption of fresh potatoes.