It’s Eat Your Vegetables Day, and veggies are ready to take centre stage!
Finally, a day where your mum’s advice to “eat your vegetables” gets a whole lot of backing. Today is all about celebrating the mighty veggies, their health benefits, and their deliciousness. Whether you’re a longtime veggie lover or someone who needs a little nudge to get those greens onto your plate, this day is the perfect excuse to dive into the vegetable aisle.
As vegetable growers, we know all about the benefits of veggies, growing some of New Zealand’s most popular veggies like broccoli, spinach, and corn in summer.
Kylie from our Sales Team says that too often vegetables are an afterthought and only added to meals as a side dish. Eat Your Vegetables Day is a chance for vegetables to shine and get the attention they deserve.
“Think of veggies as the star of the show. We’re on a mission to put veggies front and centre in homes across the country, hopefully in every dish. Try thinking of vegetables as an essential part of meals – no meal is complete without some.
“You can add a handful of spinach into your breakfast smoothie or some wild rocket with your eggs. Lettuce and salad are perfect at lunchtime and dinner is veggies’ time to shine. But don’t forget veg can also be a perfect snack, whether it’s carrots and hummus or a stick of celery and peanut butter – the options are endless!
“Isn’t it great that we’re able to recommend Kiwis eat more of something, so here goes eat more veg. In fact, eat plenty! Vegetables are beneficial thanks to the high nutrient content including vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants. All these nutrients help support your overall health and in particular your heart, “she says.
The health benefits of eating vegetables are undeniable. Findings from a 2023 report from Otago University: ‘The health and health system cost benefits of increasing vegetable intake by one serve for all New Zealanders’ support the initiative of adding one more veg to your diet. If all New Zealanders added one more vegetable (75g) every day, it would save the health system just over $830 million over the life span of the population.
Carmel Ireland from 5 + A Day says that research shows that we should eat five or more servings of fresh vegetables and two servings of fruit every day to stay as healthy as possible.
“For most of us it’s just a case of adding one more veg to one of our meals, and that’s not that hard to do, especially with something like spinach which you can throw into anything. Try and eat a rainbow of different coloured produce as well and veggies add great texture to any meal,” she says.
Dave Monro, the Heart Foundation’s Chief Advisor Food and Nutrition encourages Kiwis to eat more vegetables.
“A heart healthy diet, rich in vegetables, is linked to a reduced risk of heart disease. We suggest aiming for a variety of colourful vegetables and making them an essential part of most meals.”
If you’re short on ideas for veggie-packed meals, check out our website for heaps of veggie inspiration: Recipes – LeaderBrand
“Make sure you let vegetables be the hero of your plate today,” she says. “From salads to soups and everything in between, there’s no shortage of ways to celebrate veggies.”
Let’s make veggies the star of the show today and every day. Happy Eat Your Vegetables Day, New Zealand!
Listen to Kylie speak with Brian Kelly on The Country Sport Breakfast about Eat Your Vegetables Day: Click to listen.