News • Children's Food Campaign
Sustain welcomes new VEGPOWER campaign
Only 1.2% of food and soft drink advertising budgets promote healthy vegetables The Food Foundation's new VEG POWER campaign aims to change that, by heroising the power of eating up your carrots!
According to UK Government guidance, we should all be eating seven portions of fruit and veg every day. Yet, research from the Food Foundation suggests that 95.5% of 11-16 year olds simply aren't eating anywhere near this amount.
It's no wonder, with advertising budgets for fruit and vegetables dwarfed by the multi-million pounds of spending by companies promoting junk food, heavy in salt, fat or sugar. The Obesity Health Alliance's study of adverts shown during family viewing time - including children's favourite shows such as The Voice, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks and The Simpsons - revealed that only just over 1% of adverts were for fruit or vegetables. Even the vegetables children are eating tend to come in the form of highly processed foods. Incredibly, according to the Food Foundation, 17% of all vegetables eaten by children come from pizza and baked beans.
The innovative and upbeat VEG POWER campaign launches today (18 January), and spearheaded by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, takes the humble carrot and turns it into a children's superhero. Just one medium-sized carrot contains all the Vitamin A required in a daily diet.
The campaign kicks off with five thousand public billboard and poster sites, and a social media campaign supported by local authorities and schools, are set to engage children directly.
You can support the campaign on social media using the #vegpower hashtag
For more information, resources and toolkits, go to www.vegpower.org.uk
Published Thursday 18 January 2018
Children's Food Campaign: Better food and food teaching for children in schools, and protection of children from junk food marketing are the aims of Sustain's high-profile Children's Food Campaign. We also want clear food labelling that can be understood by everyone, including children.
