Veg Power creates Eat Them To Defeat Them guide for schools
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.
According to research 80% of children are not eating enough vegetables with a third eating less than one portion a day. Around half of parents say they have given up trying to feed their children vegetables.
Prue Leith, cook and novelist, said: “Last year’s Eat them To Defeat Them campaign to get children eating veg was extraordinarily successful with many schools reporting surprising changes in children’s behaviour and attitude to the formerly dreaded veg.
“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. The good news is, it’s not that difficult to excite and inspire kids with delicious veg and school lunch need not be a battle. With the help of Veg Power, you could be the change agent that improves the diet of hundreds of children, for life.”
The featured vegetables include:
- Carrots: week of 28th February
- Peppers: week of 7th March
- Broccoli: week of 14th March
- Tomatoes: week of 21st March
- Peas: week of 28th March
Around 78% of schools said the 2021 campaign was more popular than other healthy eating initiatives and 93% said they would welcome the campaign back into their school for 2022. Over three quarters of children (77%) stated the campaign made eating vegetables more fun and 59% claimed they ate more vegetables as a result.