A NSW apple grower is looking to do his part to stop the ever growing waistlines of Australians, using what he knows best, fruit. Batlow orchardist Barney Hyams believes one solution would be to use marketing dollars more responsibly in order to compete with junk food. He said grower levy dollars could be better spent.
"Apple growers pay a levy and a portion of that goes to marketing and promotion, but I don't think the amount [of money] we generate is enough to have any real effect on the market," Mr Hyams said.
"We are in the snack food market predominantly and we're up against huge confectionery and chip companies who spend millions of dollars on promotion"
Mr Hyams said the Government had identified the obesity epidemic in Australia, but more needed to be done to change eating habits in Australia.
"It's placing a huge amount of pressure on our health budget and it's time to change the nation's palate in the same way campaigns worked to get people putting sunscreen on for melanoma, or to quit smoking," he said.
source: abc.net.au
