Veg Cities Nottingham starts campaigns to get children in deprived areas eat more veg

Partnering with food growing, social eating spaces and the City Council, the Nottingham Good Food Partnership organised a 'Children's Veg Power! Festival' where hundreds of children had the chance to taste seasonal locally grown vegetables prepared by international cooks and to take home their own decorated pot of veg to grow at home. There was a host of creative activities and street games to keep visitors entertained. Nottingham Good Food Partnership gave away 160kgs of fresh fruit and veg donated by Fareshare and 174 veggie pots.

The event in Sneinton Square, which received a wide turn out from local media, marked the beginning of a year-long campaign to encourage healthy eating.

Nottingham Good Food Partnership got funding from the Sustainable Food Cities and match-funding from the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham City Council, The Renewal Trust and Wastecycle to run the campaign. Plans for the coming months include a Travelling Veg Show going into primary schools, festivals and community markets and Holiday Food and Fun events to tackle holiday hunger delivered in partnership with Business in the Community and Cash for Kids - Bauer Media's charity.

Veg Cities Nottingham aims to get young children in deprived areas of the city to eat more fresh vegetables. Campaign activities and resources will target parents and young children and demonstrate how easy and affordable it is to cook, grow and eat veg and also the importance of avoiding food waste. It will support schools with teaching packs containing lessons plans based on vegetables and ideas for chefs to incorporate more vegetables into school meals.

The campaign is run in partnership with Nottingham Community Markets, Nottingham Growing Network, Nottingham City Council, Nottingham Social Cooks Network and Fareshare.

To know more about the Veg Cities campaign or get involved go to vegcities.org