New food technology brings vegetables centre stage 9 May, 2021 06:00 PM 3 minutes to read Food Nation co-founders Josie Lambert, left, and Miranda Burdon. Photo / Supplied The Country A project enabling New Zealand to tap into the growing market for plant-based products, will let vegetables feature as a "centre of the plate" item, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) says. A diverse range of new processed vegetable products was now available on the market, thanks to $147,000 investment from MPI's Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures (SFF Futures) fund - with more innovation underway. The two-year project led by Food Nation, which kicked off in mid-2019, aimed to develop a range of plant-based "meat alternative" foods using mushroom seconds and an array of other more novel plants.