Eating healthy foods is harder than ever, not only due to the rising cost of groceries but the inconvenience is often cited as a hurdle to getting those good nutrients on the dinner plate.

The
price of fruit and vegetables rose by 4.9 per cent from May to June and by 5.5 per cent year-on between June 2021 and June 2022, according to the New Zealand food price index.

Recent research by Rabobank which specialises in food and agribusiness banking and food rescue organisation KiwiHarvest shows that the number of Kiwis who get their five servings of fruit and vegetables a day is dropping.

Only 57 per cent of New Zealanders eat their portion of nutrients daily, compared with 60 per cent in 2021.

Over half mentioned food cost as a major challenge.

Having enough time to shop for fresh vegetables and to prepare them properly also stops many from eating enough healthy foods.

Figures of the NZ Health Survey paint an even grimmer picture: According to their latest data from 2020/21 only 30.1 per cent of Kiwis eat three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit each day. That is down from 44.4 per cent 10 years ago.

Whangārei clinical dietician and nutritionist Prem Nand has chimed in saying that five fruit and vegetables a day is the “bare minimum” we require each day.

“Fruit and vegetables are full of nutrients like vitamins and minerals and we need quite a lot of them.”

Nand explained our diet feeds the trillions of bacteria and other microbiomes that live in our gut which in return affect our physical health and mental wellbeing.

However, she said eating well is becoming increasingly difficult with the low supply of affordable fresh foods in the supermarket.

Grow your own veg or join a community garden

Nand’s solution: “We need to learn how to grow healthy food at home.”

Home-grown vegetables are more affordable and go from the garden straight to the dinner table which means they are fresher and contain more nutrients.

Nand also said that frozen vegetables and fruit offer an alternative to the fresh produce aisle in the supermarket – they last longer and modern freezing techniques mean they still contain many nutrients.

Canned goods are also an option, however added sodium or sugar is less healthy compared to the fresh option.

For those without a green thumb or the time to grow tomatoes in their backyard, community gardens – like the Raumanga Community Garden – are starting to sprout everywhere.

Obesity rates in New Zealand show how important a balanced diet is.

Our obesogenic environment makes healthy eating hard

In the last 10 years, they rose from 28.8 per cent to 33.7 per cent. Over 68 per cent of Kiwis are either overweight or obese.

The Northland District Health Board annual report from 2021 hints that this health issue is even more prevalent in this region:

“Excess weight in Northland is a serious problem, worse now than smoking. 81 per cent of Māori are either overweight or obese, compared with about 70 per cent of non-Māori.”

Te Whatu Ora Te Tai Tokerau community paediatrician Dr Ailsa Tuck said it was important to focus less on the number on the scales and more on making sure our bodies are healthy.

“We live in an obesogenic environment. That means the collective physical, economic, policy, social and cultural factors in our environment promote obesity,” Tuck explained.

“This also means that obesity is a really big societal problem and it is entirely predictable that individuals (at the whānau level) are finding it really hard to avoid this problem.”

Fostering healthy eating habits starts at a very young age and the way kids eat can be different from adults:

“Children’s appetite changes over time and even on any given day,” Tuck said.
What if my kid doesn’t like greens?

“Let kids moderate their intake according to their appetite. This is something that lots of adults have lost the ability to do, as we tend to eat mindlessly or for reasons other than hunger.”

It teaches kids to recognise when they are hungry and not just eat for the sake of it.
“Don’t make them finish food, and try to serve smaller portion sizes so they can actually think about whether they are still hungry.”

Tuck recommended offering three meals a day and healthy snacks such as fruit or vegetables.

But if my child tosses the broccoli on the ground and only munches on pasta and chips?
Tuck encourages parents to be patient and keep offering vegetables.

“Don’t give up. Kids can take a lot of time to get used to certain foods. But don’t stress if they don’t eat the healthy dinner you made them.”

Cutting out unhealthy foods is another pathway to a better diet, especially sugary drinks.

Tuck says eating an actual apple is better than offering apple juice because fruit juices often have added sugar meanwhile fresh fruit has fibre and its natural sugar is released slowly.

Showing love with ‘treat’ food can be unhealthy

Another unhealthy diet trap is convenience food which is often relatively cheap and marketed in a way to appeal to children and adults alike.

“These foods don’t hold a lot of nutrition,” Tuck said. “Aim to use foods that come less processed.”

Convenience food has often a lot of packaging and the more processed it is, the harder it becomes to see its ingredients.

“Learning how to cook unprocessed foods is something that often our older generation have more knowledge about,” Tuck said.

“Making sure we bring that knowledge into our community is important.

“Another thing I find a bit hard as parents is wanting to show our love for our children by giving them ‘treat’ foods.

“If we are choosing treat food that is very high in salt, sugar and unhealthy fats this is actually harmful if it is a regular habit. “

Tuck said it was hard to change this habit because it is rooted in our culture. Most people eat treat food every day – it’s cheap and readily available.

“Sometimes when people are feeling low, it seems the easiest thing to do.

“Learning to show our love, and learning to find pleasure in other ways is really important.”

Maintaining a healthy body and mind isn’t just about what we eat on a daily, however.

Getting enough sleep – which includes getting kids to bed early enough for them to have a good night’s sleep – and waking up refreshed is just as important, as well as, movement and fresh air.

What is 5+?
The World Health Organisation recommends eating at least five servings (five handful or 400g for adults) of fruit and vegetables each day to provide the body with enough nutrients and lower the risk of serious health problems, such as heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer.

Healthy ways to cook veggies
-Vegetables can lose nutritional value when exposed to water, heat, and light. Prolonged storage also leads to nutrition loss. Store foods in cool, dark places and try to use them within a day or two of purchase.
-Locally grown produce that is in season is the best option because it has the shortest way from harvest to the dinner table.
-Rinse instead of soaking produce under cool, running water. Soaking vegetables can mean that valuable water-soluble nutrients, like vitamin C, can leech out into the water.
-Avoid cutting vegetables into small pieces for cooking. Instead, cook them whole or in large chunks.
-Don’t peel your vegetables. Often the flesh just beneath the skin contains more nutrients than the inner portions.
-As a general rule, the best way to prevent nutrient loss is to cook vegetables quickly, with minimum heat and minimum liquid. To achieve that you can microwave steam or pot steam vegetables until they are tender-crisp. Stir-frying is also a good way of preparing veg.
-Avoid boiling your food, reheat only when necessary.

Power Plant Winter Salad

The Advocate visited the team at Whangārei’s Power Plant cafe and watched them making one of their healthy meals. The Italian broccoli-cauliflower salad is a quick and easy recipe full of good nutrients from fresh winter vegetables. This yummy dish is rich in flavour and can be enjoyed hot or cold.

Serves 2 people
Prep time: approximately 30 minutes (10-15 min preparation; 15-20 min cooking)

Ingredients:
-½ cauliflower
-1 broccoli
-1 red onion
-a handful or 2 tablespoons of capers
-6-7olives
-olive oil
-red wine vinegar
-Italian herbs (mixed herbs are an alternative if Italian herbs are not available)
-salt and pepper
-coconut sugar (or regular sugar)
-fresh Italian parsley
-fresh chives

Preparation:
1.Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
2.Clean vegetables. Don’t soak them but rinse with cool water.
3.Cut broccoli and cauliflower in bite-sized chunks. You can eat the stalks if you like them, they have nutritional value.
4.Chop onion into half and cut into fine slices.
5.Add chopped vegetables into a mixing bowl.
6.Add 2-3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar.
7.Add ½ tablespoon of Italian herbs.
8.Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
9.Mix all ingredients well. Because you’re seasoning the vegetables before cooking them it will bring out the flavour well.
10.Spread ingredients on an oven tray and cook in oven for 15-20 minutes. Put vegetables back into the mixing bowl.
11.Slice olives, chop capers and add into the mixing bowl.
12.Add ½ teaspoon of coconut sugar.
13.Add 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper.
14.Mix well and serve salad on plates.
15.Garnish with fresh Italian parsley and chives.

Optional: This salad goes great with basil pesto or sundried tomatoes. You can also add fresh thyme or rosemary. Seeds such as pumpkin or sunflower seeds are also a delicious addition.