As the Fair Dinkum Food Tractor rally rolls through Sydney and Canberra raising consumer awareness of the plight of the Australian Vegetable Industry this week, the lobbying arm of the campaign, AUSVEG is working behind the scenes towards a new vision for the industry.

‘The Fair Dinkum Food Tractor Rally arriving in Sydney and Canberra this week is a significant milestone for us. The AUSVEG Board will be meeting with the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Peter McGauran in Canberra to present a copy of our ‘pathway to a new vision for the Australian vegetable industry paper,’ Michael Badcock, AUSVEG chairman said.

The ‘pathway to a new vision’ details the background work being undertaking on the major issues such as country of origin labelling, imported food inspection guidelines and the horticulture business code. These significant projects will accumulate into a new vision for the industry which will be announced at the Australian Vegetable Industry Conference to be held in Brisbane from the 10 to 12 May 2006.

‘The support from Australian consumers for Aussie vegetables has been overwhelming. There is no doubt that they do care about where their food comes from and want to make the choice,’ Michael said.

‘Consumers constantly ask what they can do to help. They just need to keep asking where their food comes from,’ he said.

‘Consumer support has made a very real difference to the future viability of the industry because it has raised the awareness of our plight, gaining us strong support from Government and industry and we now have a plan and an exciting road map forward,’ he said.

The AUSVEGIE campaign is working to raise consumer awareness of the issues confronting the industry, and behind the scenes with governments and key stakeholders to deliver a long term sustainable industry.

The focus for the industry beyond May 2006 is the implementation of the ‘New Vision’. This ‘New Vision’ will involve a whole of industry and whole of government commitment to dealing with the key issues faced by the sector. It will involve significant resourcing and will include managing a structural adjustment that will occur in the sector.

For detailed information on the many projects the industry is currently undertaking please see background material on www.ausveg.com.au.