Eat healthier this International Year of Fruits and Vegetables

The United Nations has declared 2021 as the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables. The Year aims to:

• raise awareness of the health benefits of eating more fresh and minimally processed fruits and vegetables
• support farmers
• reduce food waste
• ensure we all have access to affordable fruit and vegetables.

Fruits and vegetables are your dietary essentials — colourful, vitamin-, mineral- and fibre-rich; vital for the human body to function. They help children grow and prevent overweight and obesity.

Did you know ?

In Australia we recommend eating five serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit each day to keep us healthy. Not many of us eat enough fruit and vegetables with the main reasons being cost, limited availability, preferring other foods and not being aware of the recommendations.

Fruit and vegetables also have to compete with the powerful advertising of junk food that presents them as tasty and socially desirable. This means we think of snacking on crisps instead of an apple.

How much is 1 serve of fruit?

	1 medium piece
	2 small pieces
	1 cup chopped

How much is 1 serve of vegetables?

	1/2 cup of cooked vegetables
	1/2 medium potato
	1 cup of salad

Fruit and vegetable waste

Huge amounts of food is lost or wasted every year. This is particularly true of fruit and vegetables because most are highly perishable.

In NSW, more than a third of the waste we send to landfill is food. That adds up to about $10 billion worth of good food that’s being thrown away every year. And food isn’t the only thing that is wasted when it goes uneaten: all of the resources (like seeds, water, feed, etc.), money and labour that go into producing it are also lost.

So, for the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables in 2021, make your personal resolutions to

• Eat more fruit and veggies.
• Aim for two fruit and five veg serves daily and try out some different varieties that you haven’t eaten before. For inspiration check out the wide variety of fruit and vegie recipes on the Healthy Lunch Box website.
• Waste less food — see these easy tips to reduce food waste
• Join the Our Kids, Our Call campaign to stop junk food advertisers targeting our kids

Read more information about the International Year of Fruit and Vegetables.