In the new report, a total of four in ten state that they will buy less fresh vegetables this year compared to 2022 and one in three claim that they will buy less fruit. The reason is the rising food prices.
According to Statistics Norway (SCB), the price of vegetables has increased by almost 25 percent in the past year, while fruit has become almost 16 percent more expensive.
“Worrying development”
Karin Fritz, advisor at the Swedish Food Agency, describes the development as “worrying”.
– We also see that there is a difference when it comes to income level. Households with the lowest income answer to an even greater extent that they do not buy fresh vegetables now compared to households with the highest income. Among those with the highest income, one in four answers that, and among those with the lowest income, it is almost half, she says.
– Then, in the long term, it can lead to unequal health.
Reduces the risk of disease
The Swedish Food Agency writes in a press release that fruit and vegetables “reduce the risk of, among other things, obesity, cardiovascular diseases and certain types of cancer”. The recommendation for an adult is to eat 500 grams of fruit and vegetables per day, which only around two out of ten do. Frozen vegetables are just as useful as fresh ones, according to the Swedish Food Agency.
Sara Ask, dietitian and cookbook author, believes that you should review which foods you consume instead of fruit and vegetables.
– We know that much of our food money is spent on sweets, ice cream, cakes and chips. They are foods that do not provide any nutrition, and that provide a lot of energy without contributing anything else, so the risk is that you will have difficulty eating the right amount, she says.
Watch Sara Ask’s top three fruit and vegetable combinations to help you meet your daily needs in the video player above.
