A scheme in northern New South Wales offering subsidised fruit and vegetables to low-income Aboriginal families has led to a significant improvement in community health.

The project subsidised by the Bulgarr Ngaru health service costs $90,000 a year and has provided more than 50 families a weekly box of fresh produce.

Gordon Davis looks after nine grandchildren on a pension and said normally the cost of fruit and vegetables was beyond his budget.

He pays $5 a week for the box of fruit and vegetables.

"The fruit and vegetables come in handy for us because we're only on a pension and we can't really afford a lot of fruit and vegetables," he said.

Mr Davis said the proper eating of fruit and vegetables helped his grandchildren excel in athletics and rugby league.

"They do not go to the doctor's, because they've got healthy teeth, they are very fit and they are very active and they're not skinny and scrawny."

Clarence Valley general practitioner Andrew Black said many health problems in the community were caused by poor nutrition.

"These children have common illnesses that all children have - middle ear infections, skin infections - they just seem to have them more commonly than perhaps other children, and there are multiple reasons for that, and poor nutrition is just one of those reasons," he said.

The food subsidy program started eight years ago and Dr Black and a team of researchers began evaluating its impact in 2008.

He said results from the regular health checks including blood tests and dietary assessments of 170 children over a year indicated there were short-term health benefits from the scheme.

"There were less antibiotics prescribed to these children over the 12 months when they were participating in the program, compared to when they weren't on the program," he said.

This is the first food subsidy program of its kind and it has been so well received that there is a waiting list in the Clarence Valley.

Mayor Richie Williamson said Clarence Valley was one of the lowest socio-economic regions in Australia and welcomed the community's calls for the scheme being expanded.

"I encourage anyone who may be in the position to influence state and federal programs to be advocating for programs like this," he said.

"It is simple and it is giving the right nutrition to the right people who certainly need it."