Over 120 Leicestershire primary schools have signed up to a national campaign to encourage children to eat more vegetables.
ITV and Veg Power’s seven-week national campaign, Eat Them To Defeat Them, launches on 12 February and aims to capture children’s imagination by encouraging them to join the fight to defeat vegetables – by eating them. Since February 2019, Eat Them To Defeat Them has seen an increase of 517 million children’s vegetable portions within schools.
The county council, Leicestershire Traded Services, Food for Life and public health have joined forces to get Leicestershire schools involved in the healthy eating initiative.
For seven weeks children will be encouraged to find out more about the vegetable of the week, discovering its benefits through school assemblies, activity sheets and puzzles. Catering teams will then use the vegetable in school meals.
Recipes and reward charts are available for children who want to carry on the fight at home, with parents being encouraged to join in and make sure they're defeating their veg too.
I am delighted that this initiative is returning again, as it’s a great way to get children engaged in healthy eating from a young age. It will help children develop healthy habits inside and outside the home that will last a lifetime.
Person:Councillor Louise Richardson, cabinet member for health and wellbeingGavin Fletcher, Co-ordinator of the Leicestershire Sustainable Food Partnership, said: “We know the kids who take part love this programme – and we do too.
“All the feedback we’ve had from county schools taking part in Eat Them To Defeat Them has been extremely positive and encouraging.”
Dan Parker, Veg Power Chief Executive, said: “We know that vegetable consumption levels drastically need to be improved – for the benefit of our health, wellbeing, and our planet.
"We also know that Eat Them To Defeat Them is working and children are eating more veg because of their involvement, but we need to broaden the reach and have more schools and local authorities join us to achieve our mission this year.”
Across the UK, the Veg Power charity’s research found that 89 per cent of children aren’t eating enough veg, with one in three not managing one portion a day.
To learn more about sustainable food in Leicestershire, and to sign up the newsletter, visit: https://resources.leicestershire.gov.uk/good-food-leicestershire