Stop the buck passing, Australian’s need us to find solutions.

It’s been two weeks since we launched our national public awareness campaign ‘We Give A Fork’ designed to educate consumers and decision makers alike, as to the complexities in production horticulture.  

And what a fortnight it’s been! As expected, the media has picked up on the easy narrative of farmer vs supermarket, the underdog vs the duopoly however we offer Australians a word of caution into being sucked into this narrative, as those in the game know this is just one small piece of a very complex puzzle to solve.  

Although we absolutely support ensuring our growers obtain prices for their produce which are reflective of their cost of production and include a profit margin which would allow them to not only pay their staff and the supply chain but to also pay themselves, along with profit to allow them to be sustainable into the future (think investment in technologies etc), we don’t place the entire blame on the shoulders of the big two.  

Yes, they have an enormous amount of work to cease being disingenuously supportive of the fresh produce industry – work that we are going to hold them accountable to. And of course, we have no doubt they are using their market power in an abusive form, which also needs to be investigated, however, are they all the problem? Absolutely not!  

In business you can either spend less or earn more – we need to work on both ends of the spectrum! 

Although the government is rightfully invested in putting more scrutiny into the big players, let’s not forget, the government themselves are responsible for increasing costs to the grower. The policy pile-on of the last 18 months has dramatically changed the way growers operate. It’s relatively easy to make a new rule, however the implementation of every change causes a chain reaction.  

We need the government to stop and reflect on their own actions, actions which have created an immense workload for growers along with a great deal of uncertainty, increased costs due to implementation of these changes and sadly reduced pay packets and employment opportunities for workers and put an entire supply chain of fresh produce at immense risk. 

The We Give A Fork campaign stands for good decision making regardless of who’s in government and government decisions need scrutiny at this time too.  

There are complex issues in fresh produce, issues which cannot be solved by one inquiry - that’s why the We Give A Fork campaign is a 12-month deep dive into the industry. 

This isn’t about passing the buck – this is about understanding the problems, before working together to find solutions.