Good Time to Grow your Own!

I found this article today while skimming the news headlines;
Australia has fastest-rising food prices of any major developed nation
By John Rolfe
The Daily Telegraph
AUSTRALIANS are paying the fastest-rising food prices of any major developed nation.

The cost of feeding a family has shot up more than 40 per cent this decade, new OECD figures reveal.

That is a quarter quicker than prices have risen in Britain, twice as fast as in France and nearly three times the speed at which German groceries have increased, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Experts say the explanation for our pricey produce and soaring staples is not drought, currency movements or transport costs.

University of NSW associate professor Frank Zumbo said comparing costs over 10 years eliminated such variables and exposed our "cosy" supermarket duopoly as the main reason.

"When you look internationally, it is our market concentration which explains why our grocery prices are rising faster," he said.

Woolies of course defends itself by claiming Australia has a very competitive market. I shop at the local IGA I have to admit, and I've been so happy with the produce and prices that I am loathe to set foot in a Woolies or Coles ever again.

Got me thinking though that now might be a good time to start a vegie patch. I've always had pots of herbs and tomatoes growing and even a little lemon and mandarin tree (unfortunately every year my boys pull the budding fruit off before it gets past marble size), but I noticed at Bunnings the other day that they have some nifty wooden vegie patch wooden box things that are about 1m x 1m. There is something to be said for growing edible plants from seed.