The “Plus One Serve of Vegetables by 2030” program is a bold, collaborative and transformative approach to substantially address the alarmingly low and declining daily per capita consumption of vegetables in Australia. The 6-year R&D program will ‘meet consumers where they are’ with initiatives that nudge Aussies towards eating more vegetables where they live, learn, work, rest and play.

Australians are eating fewer vegetables than ever before, just 1.8 serves per day against the recommended 5 serves. This shortfall threatens public health, burdens the healthcare system, weakens farm incomes and increases reliance on imported produce.

Plus One Serve by 2030, led by AUSVEG, is a national behaviour change initiative to increase vegetable consumption, improve health, support growers and strengthen Australia’s food security. Adding just one extra serve (75g) of vegetables per person per day will deliver a powerful triple bottom line of benefits. It will improve the economic, health, social and environmental wellbeing for all Australians:

• $1.4 billion in projected healthcare savings by 2030
• $3.3 billion added to the vegetable supply chain
• 12,841 new jobs

This report summarises the research, insights and recommendations that form the foundation for the Plus One Serve initiative. It is an executive summary of the National Strategy and Baseline Review Final Report. The key elements of the program methodology include:

• National ‘true’ consumption baseline mapped from farmgate to retail, home and out of home.
• Global best practice review to develop an evidence-base for interventions by setting.
• Rapid Review of national behaviour change frameworks and application of logic to vegetable consumption by cohort and by setting.
• Co-design workshops with cross sector experts to consider key variables influencing per capita consumption change to inform three investment scenarios (low, moderate, high change).
• Investment Scenarios converted into costs estimates (initial six-year program to achieve Plus One Serve by 2030).

Plus One Serve is a transformational program designed to address Australia’s vegetable consumption crisis, strengthen our economy and secure the future of Australian horticulture. With coordinated, cross-sector investment and evidence-backed strategies, we can drive change by 2030.