The council’s Southern NSW nutrition project officer, Kate Angelucci, said some people believed that fruit and vegetables were expensive, but compared with the cost of meat or pre-packaged snacks this was not always the case.

“Cancer Council-commissioned research shows that a fibre-rich diet including two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables a day can help prevent one in six cases of bowel cancer,” Ms Angelucci, said.

“Eating the recommended servings of fruit and vegetables also helps reduce the risk of oesophageal, lung and some mouth and throat cancers,” she said.