Authors
Katrina Lindsay and Chris Pike.
Abstract
The food group of the consumers price index (CPI) tracks the changes in food prices faced by households. Over the past 50 years the composition of the food basket has changed, reflecting changes in household spending patterns.
Over the years, rhubarb, silverbeet, canned peas, tripe, dripping, rolled oats, and the humble saveloy have all been removed from the basket. These have made way for avocado, alfalfa sprouts, taro, margarine, pasta, energy drinks, soy milk, hummus dips, and chilled fruit juice, among other items.
50 years of food - conference poster (PDF, 208kb)