Vegetables

Food charities helping struggling families put food on the table can no longer rely on excess produce being available as farmers count their own cost of extreme weather events.

The ACCC is investigating the disparity between supermarket check-out prices and farmgate prices and one thing it could recommend is a mandatory code of conduct. But would it make the market fairer for growers?

Shoppers have seen the price of local fruit and veg skyrocket, but canned produce remains relatively cheap. One expert says there are several worrying reasons for this. 

Some Australian producers turn their backs on the major supermarkets because of what they say are unfair prices at the farm gate.

The humble vegetables are susceptible to storms, heavy rainfall and high temperatures. Frequent extreme weather events make the crop vulnerable.

Weeks of wild weather in Victoria is likely to mean less stone fruit on supermarket shelves, after hail and heavy rain smashed Australia's main production regions, costing growers millions of dollars in losses.

Grocery prices rose and major supermarkets made billion-dollar profits last year, but Bundaberg farmer Trevor Cross fears rock-bottom produce prices will force him to leave the industry he loves — and there are many others like him.

From pink custard apples and sweeter capsicums that resemble the colour of chocolate, these Queensland farmers are working to bring innovative new varieties to supermarket shelves.

Garlic lovers can now buy Australian-grown all year round, thanks to decades of work by persistent farmers who refused to give up on the difficult crop.

A year-long parliamentary inquiry focused on the future of Australia's food security recommends introducing a minister for food among its 35 recommendations to the federal government.

Simplot Australia, which owns brands including Edgell, says natural disasters have led to a shortage of Australian-grown vegetables, forcing it to look outside the country for supply.

Advocates say a simple change would stop Australian households from unwittingly throwing out perfectly edible food, and they are banding together to get the regulator on board.

The manager of a charity that organises food donations for people in need says she is "distressed" by the amount of produce a new Townsville supermarket has sent to landfill.

Shaun Jackson grows niche varieties of melons and, just as Australians are cutting back on fruit, an expanding Japanese market can't get enough of them.

While he grew up on an asparagus farm, it took a pandemic-era career shift to turn Markum Boston into his home town's first grower of white asparagus.

A Pemberton electrician is supplying up to 20 kilograms of fungi a week to shops and restaurants in a mushroom-growing side hustle that has been a process of trial and error.

A dietician is encouraging more people to eat onions to boost good gut bacteria and increase their daily vegetable intake, with the added benefit that prices have remained stable despite inflation.

An Indigenous community harvesting Australia's earliest commercial garlic crop is hoping to pass on farming skills to improve the lives of future generations.

With bees responsible for pollinating much of the food we find at the supermarket and green grocer, authorities remain committed to trying to eradicate the recently introduced varroa mite before it gains too much of a foothold.

Stephanie Alexander has been in our kitchens for decades now, educating us on the many versatile ways of serving up deliciousness. The famous cook spoke with News Breakfast about her latest book, 'Fresh' - all about getting kids and adults alike into healthy cooking habits.

Stephanie Alexander has been in our kitchens for decades now, educating us on the many versatile ways of serving up deliciousness. The famous cook spoke with News Breakfast about her latest book, 'Fresh' - all about getting kids and adults alike into healthy cooking habits.

Much like the fashion industry, food consumption follows trends, and a researcher is concerned about their effect on farmers.

Ideal growing conditions this year have seen the volume of vegetables in one of Australia's largest winter production regions skyrocket, leading to oversupply and low farmgate prices.

Riverland consumers have another option to access fresh vegetables as a cooperative from the Adelaide Hill expands into new terrain.

Traders at the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne say they feel "blindsided" by management's decision to raise licence fees and hand back the cost of utilities, waste disposal and utilities to stallholders.