Home Truths
We're a passionate bunch here at Aussie Farmers Direct so we thought we’d share with you some thought provoking observations on some of the key home truths affecting our Aussie farmers and Australian food supply at this present time.
1. Food Manufacturing in Australia
‘The Australian food industry plays an important role in delivering safe, nutritious and reliable food products to the Australian people. The industry is a significant employer, supporting employment for 1.68 million people, particularly in rural and regional areas. It contributed $130.4 billion in food and beverage retail turnover in 2010–11 alone.”
Source: ‘FOODmap’, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Click here to read more.
- •'Woolies and Coles fail home-grown test', The Age. Click here to read more.
- •'Where are supermarket products sourced?’, Choice Report. Click here to read more.
- •'Pratt Warns of Food Security Danger’, The Age. Click here to read more.
- •'Heinz Tomato Sauce Factory Closes’, ABC. Click here to read more.
- •'High $A Forces SPC Ardmona to Close Victorian Fruit and Vegetable Cannery Affecting 150 Jobs’, The Australian. Click here to read more.
2. Permeate In Milk – The Hidden Additive
At Aussie Farmers Direct we believe ‘milk is milk’, simple as that, but not everybody does...
Only the best, freshest, most wholesome milk, makes it into our bottles. Good old fashioned, Aussie milk, straight from Aussie cows, reared on Aussie soil, by Aussie farmers, bottled at Aussie Farmers Dairy with ‘no added permeate’, the way milk should be. However not all Aussie milk is just milk.
Like anything in life you get what you pay for, and with some cheaper milks, you’re paying for added permeate, in some cases up to 12% at different times of the year. There is no requirement to declare the percentage of added permeate, so consumers have no idea it’s in their milk.
What is Permeate?
Permeate is a milk by-product that can occur during the production process. It is often used to standardise nutritional levels in milk. Basically it’s a cheap filler. Adding permeate to milk makes it cheaper to bottle, so fatter profits for those companies that practice it, an inferior product for consumers and less money for dairy farmers.
Rest assured we won't ever compromise on the quality of our milk and we proudly label all our milk 'no added permeate' as a guarantee.
Our Milk Mantra
- 1. Always 100% Australian – Revitalising local communities
- 2. Quality - No added permeate ever in our milk, it’s creamier that way
- 3. Convenience - FREE home delivery to save you time and money
- 4. Everyday - Giving customers and farmers a fair go
‘As the milk wars between supermarkets have crunched margins for major milk producers, industry sources say permeate is increasingly used to reduce the cost per litre’.
Source: The Age. Click here to read more.
- • 'Waste product becomes cream of the crop in milk wars', The Age. Click here to read more.
- • 'Milk's hidden additives', Today Tonight. Click here to read more.
- • 'Proudly 100% Australian milk with no added permeate', Aussie Farmers Direct. Click here to read more.
- • 'Aussie Farmers Dairy Celebrates', Aussie Farmers Direct. Click here to read more.
- • 'Permeate additives removed from milk’, A Current Affair Click here to view video.
Have Your Say... visit us today!
3. Supermarket Dominance
"Supermarkets account for 63 per cent of all food sales in Australia - 80 per cent of which is controlled by Coles and Woolworths".
Source: ‘FOODmap’, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Click here to read more.
- •'Home Brands Rely on Foreign Imports', smh.com.au: Click here to read more.
- •'Call to Rein in Coles, Woolies', The Age: Click here to read more.
- •Supermarkets’, Hon. Nick Xenophon, Senator for South Australia. Click here to read more.
4. Land Sell Off
“Australia should sell the food, not the farm. As at 31 December 2009, the level of foreign investment in Australian agricultural land was estimated to be valued at $1.897 billion”
Source: Leon Byner, ‘Don’t Sell Australia Short’. Click here to read more.
- •‘Should Australia be Selling the Farm?’, Sydney Morning Herald. Click here to read more.
- •‘Farm Facts’, National Farmers Federation. Click here to read more.
- •‘Selling the Farm’, Hon. Nick Xenophon, Senator for South Australia. Click here to read more.
5. Supporting Aussie Farmers
‘Global agriculture is faced with the task of producing more from a finite, and in some cases declining, base of natural resources. There will be 9.3 billion people in the world by 2050 but they will be eating as much food as 13 billion at today’s nutritional levels. To meet this increase in demand, global food output must rise by 110 per cent in the coming 40 years’
Source: ‘Opportunities and Threats Facing Australian Agriculture’, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Click here to read more.
- •‘Perfect Storm Hits Farmers’, The Age. Click here to read more.
- •‘FOODmap’, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Click here to read more
6. Supermarket Price Wars
‘A year ago Coles began selling milk at $1 a litre. Its rivals followed suit and there's no sign of an end soon…Branded milk sales slumped up to 26 per cent to November as consumers filled their shopping baskets with cheap, private-label milk’.
Source: ‘Milk wars leave sour taste in farmers’ mouths’, Sydney Morning Herald. Click here to read more.
- •'Farmers Slam Govt Response to Milk Price War’, Australian Financial Review. Click here to read more.
7. Food Labeling: Country of Origin
“Under the current rules, only 50 percent of the cost of a product has to originate in Australia for it to be called 'Made in Australia'. The cost of the packaging is included in that 50 percent”
Source: Hon. Nick Xenophon, Senator for South Australia. Click here to read more.
- •‘Country of Origin Claims’, Choice.com.au. Click here to read more.
- •‘Food Labels May Hide Foreign Matter’, Herald Sun. Click here to read more.
8. Imported Fruit and Vegetables
“In the period between November 2010 and October 2011, Australia imported $651 million dollars of vegetables and only exported $265 million dollars of vegetables, leaving a trade deficit of $386 million dollars”
Source: AusVeg. Click here to read more.
- •'Home Brands Rely on Foreign Imports', smh.com.au: Click here to read more.
- •‘Cheap Food Imports to Bite Consumers’, news.com.au: Click here to read more.
- •‘Aust: A Net Importer of Food’, Hon. Bob Katter – Member for Kennedy. Click here to read more.
9. Healthy Eating
‘Australian adults eat on average 2-3 serves of vegetables per day, half the recommended 5 serves for good health. Health authorities recommend you eat at least 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables every day’.
Source: Go For 2&5. Click here to read more.
- •‘Dietary Guidelines for Australian Adults’, National Health and Medical Research Council. Click here to read more.
- •‘Healthy Eating – Does Your Diet Stack Up’, Choice. Click here to read more.
- •‘Quality: The other victim in milk wars’, Sydney Morning Herald. Click here to read more.
