
All the headlines on the overseas grown Berry products causing illness for Australians got me thinking. I have always been a big believer in finding ways to save on grocery bills and as long as the produce tastes nice then it must be ok. I have friends who spend hours in the aisles reading over the packaging trying to find either Australian made or gluten free or low GI the list goes on. However, I always feel like I do not to have the time or desire to do so. I want to make a choice which will be healthy (without the risk of disease) and I want to support local produce (from an economical view point), however I also want it to be made easy so I can spend more time with my family doing the things I enjoy doing.
The food manufacturers are often called out to make our labelling much more understandable and in some cases, it has changed, but we still have a long way to go. I then thought, I am an online grocery shopper so while I wait for the labelling to become easier to read, maybe there was a way to identify the Australian grown & made products.
After a short research exercise, I found Coles Online to be quite helpful where you can tick a box and display only Australian Grown or Made. I noticed many of the products I already purchase are on that list – Great! – not to mention the cheaper items were also on the list! Woolworths on the other hand need to step it up (in my opinion). There is no way to determine easily where the produce is grown or made.
Coles & Woolworths could earn a lot of respect from consumers if they were to clearly advertise (both online & in store) produce which is Australian Grown and/or made. I do not think our buying habits need to change all that much as a society, but we do need a little help to be sure we are buying what we think we are buying.