If we asked you what line you heard over and over from your parents as a child, we could almost guarantee that one of them would be ‘eat your veggies’. Back then hearing that would be painful, but now statistics are showing that fewer and fewer Australian’s are consuming less than the recommended daily intake of fruit and veggies. So maybe mum was onto something?

It is believed that convenience and ‘social eating’ are the main factors that contribute to the drop in fresh produce consumption. Because of this, we are quickly forgetting that eating plenty of fruit and vegetables contributes to good health, protects us against a number of diseases and helps us maintain a healthy weight.

Eating a least 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables each day can help prevent:

• Heart disease
• Obesity
• Some cancers
• Constipation
• Reduce blood pressure
• Reduce blood cholesterol
• Improve control of type 2 diabetes