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Children's healthy eating campaign reaches 1m milestone

24 Mar 2022
The Eat Them to Defeat Them campaign, which tries to increase vegetable consumption amongst schoolchildren, has announced that one million children have now taken part in the 2022 schools’ programme.

VegPower takes the unique approach of agreeing with children that vegetables are evil and taking over the world. The campaign encourages children the only way to beat them is to eat them in an attempt to increase vegetable consumption amongst young people.

With the support of schools across the UK Veg Power are using advertising and marketing to inspire children to adopt veggie loving habits they will keep for life, and in turn share with their children. Around 80% of our children are not eating enough vegetables with a third eating less than one portion of vegetables a day.  

Comments about the 2021 campaign, include:

  • “My daughter refuses to try things at home [but] during the programme she tried everything.”
  • “My son is a very picky eater due to sensory issues, and this program has encouraged him to try vegetables that he hasn’t eaten before.”
  • “It was amazing how children that would usually say they didn’t like a certain type of veg would try different things and discover that they actually liked them.”

Prue Leith, cook and novelist, said: “We can’t give up on the children. If they get to enjoy veg now, they will like it all their lives and will accept and enjoy a healthier (and by the way cheaper!) diet from now on. Schools and school cooks have an absolutely vital role to play.

Next week is the final week of the Eat Them to Defeat Them campaign, which will focus on peas.