What happens when you buy cheap imports???

[catsnknots]

We end up with no choice but to buy those foreign imports... 

If we don't take action and support our industries then we will be left unable to feed ourselves .. it is happening one item at a time. 

I am really sorry that this has happened in Tasmania..

I shop at Aldi but can't get aussie peas there so I buy them at Woolies.... I make the specific trip to buy aussie items to support our local growers... 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-10/pea-growers-frozen-out/4682444?&section=news

I wish there was more that I could do... but I am just one person out of 20 million.... 

I will continue to buy my Aussie peas and I hope that others take 20 seconds out to read the back of the pack and make sure your produce is 100% aussie grown and packed... 

[just_me_karen]

Are all the other items you buy at aldi grown /manufactured in Australia? To make the most valuable difference, you should buy veggies at your local farmers market and meat from your local butcher. 

The cost of transport between the supermarkets probably cancels out the benefit to local economy. 

It is sad when rural producers go under, however it's a sign of a global economy and the smartening of our country... Similar to failures in manufacturing. I would like to see farmers markets being promoted by our government because the convenience of large supermarkets is not easy to compete with. 

[catsnknots]

most of what I buy from Aldi is made in Australia... not all of course... like all supermarkets they have items from OS... tinned tomatoes for example... they have both and for a few cents more I buy the aussie one... and olive oil.. I buy the aussie brand. 

Just about all their produce is Australian.. some even come from my local area so I am happy to buy there. What is not Australian is clearly marked from country of origin. It makes the choice easy. 

I do note that the frozen veggies that I want to buy are not Australian so I have to go elsewhere. 

Most of my meat is from the local butcher... and during the in season for a lot of fruit I buy from roadside stalls... right at the farmers gate.... 3 watermelons for $6... real bargain.. B-)

[i-need-a-martini]

I wish there was more that I could do... 

It's simple - buy everything Australian made and/or from an Australian owned company. And if you can't buy it in this country/made by this country then don't buy it all. That's what we do.

It's hard at first but we do a lot of research to get things on line or we go out of our way to find things. We also shop local wherever possible.

It may feel you are only one of millions but there is a growing movement that do exactly as described.

[cherry*135]

I bought some frozen spinach for the first time recently.  WW had a choice of Product of Netherlands (Birdseye) or two other cheaper brands - Product of Belgium & Product of China.

Spinach is a pretty ordinary vege, if there is a demand for frozen spinach (enough to have 3 diff brands of it in one store) why can't Aust farmers produce it for sale. WW paying them too little to make it worth their while?

[poddster]

 I would like to see farmers markets being promoted by our government because the convenience of large supermarkets is not easy to compete with. 

Hmmm.... it is a small step from promoting and controlling. Then the government would really have the population where they wanted them.

Nup lets have dirversity and competion

[cherry*135]

We do not have diversity and competition in Australia with supermarket chains. WW & C have made sure of that..not just in groceries, but petrol, liqour stores (buying up smaller independent ones) and what ever else they own.

[catsnknots]

I don't want diversity in my everyday items.. I want to buy Australian food.. 

I still dont' get how it is cheaper to buy a tin of tomatoes from Italy than an Aussie brand... the ONLY reason is that their country subsidises them... and that is the only reason.. we are being ripped off by this so called free trade rubbish... 

They don't play by the rules and I don't think we should either... whack a import tax on it... 

It is ok if it is a traditional food that you like to buy, there are some Danish biscuits for example that I love and will buy them for a treat at Christmas time... But all other times I buy biscuits that are made in Australia... 

The Danish ones cost twice the price and that is how it should be.. 

[i-need-a-martini]

cat - our grocery bill is at least double the price of the average householder. But that's the price we pay for high wages, high food regulations, high transport costs etc. If you think about transport cost alone there is no other country that has to traverse so many km to deliver food.

am - spinach is the easiest vege to grow. We grow heaps and freeze our own. It keeps for ages. 🙂

[cherry*135]

You also have to consider what price the 2 major supermarkets pay the Aussie farmers for their produce. The farmers are not getting enough money from the supermarket giants. to bother producing the veges, fruit etc.

Awhile ago on a TV documentary, major supermarket was selling pumpkin for $3.98 a kilo. They paid the farmer 60c a kilo. When the pumpkin was on special, the farmers margin was reduced not the supermarkets margin.

The veges aren't costing less for the consumers to buy, the farmers are getting paid less per kilo, the supermarket giants are making more money.