Only a couple of generations ago, children considered fruit a treat to eat. Now, in this fast moving world of information overload, rapid technology and the rise of junk food availability has done little to make today’s young generation appreciate the healthy food our grandparents longed for.
The government’s 5 A DAY campaign has begun the well needed turn around by promoting the benefits of fruit and vegetables across all ages and running initiatives to encourage people to include at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables in their daily diet; however, we all have to buy in to the concept to make it work.
At Parkfresh, we are delighted to be involved in this hugely important initiative. Currently, Parkfresh delivers 65,000 pieces of fruit to children across three LEA areas in the North West of England, as part of the 5 A DAY School Fruit and Veg Scheme (SFVS). Almost 2,000,000 Key Stage 1 children in England are now offered a piece of fruit or a vegetable each day at school.
The campaign has been so successful that in certain regions local or regional initiatives have enabled the funding of the provision of fruit and vegetables to Key Stage 2 children. The increasing demand has lead to Parkfresh recently constructing a purpose built 6,000 square foot cold-room to aid distribution and storage of fruit for the scheme. The fresh produce available for the scheme includes carrots, satsumas, apples, bananas, pears and even baby cucumbers and strawberries.
For the fresh produce industry the problem is that the average cauliflower just isn’t sexy enough to persuade someone, who thinks a strawberry on the side of his champagne glass constitutes one of his 5 A DAY, to change his eating habits. Education from an early age is key and this is why the 5 A DAY campaign in schools and regional activity is so vital. It’s essentially all about raising the profile of fruit and vegetables with kids before they get any preconceived ideas or taste preferences.
The 5 A DAY logo is a great resource with which to raise awareness of the campaign. In the last few months, Parkfresh has completed its project to display the 5 A DAY logo on all thirty of its delivery vans, which deliver fruit and school dinner supplies to the schools and local establishments, helping to publicise and communicate the 5 A DAY message. In addition, Parkfresh’s accreditation to Higher Level European Food Safety Inspection Service (EFSIS) is evidence of our commitment to high quality service and to the education and promotion of healthy eating.
Clearly only time will tell whether or not the next generation takes healthy eating messages on board, but then as someone once said ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’. We know habits are hard to change, so we need to continue to drive awareness and pledge commitment to this campaign to achieve results, and in the meantime if only 10% of those kids start to see broccoli as something other than the enemy, then we are making progress.
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