Tesco launch fruit and veg campaign in schools across UK as well as offering a key additional kitchen item

Tesco has launched a campaign to deliver more fruit and veg to kids who ordinarily might not get enough for them to thrive. Schools across the UK in areas with high free school meal participation are being targeted because data shows that families on lower incomes often struggle to afford a healthy diet.

Now the supermarket giant is launching phase two of the campaign by giving these schools slow cookers so they can make the most of the vegetables they’re getting. Slow cookers are commonplace in kitchens across the UK but it is unusual to have one in the classroom.

The idea behind the initiative is to introduce children to cooking at a young age so they can take this skill into adulthood. Studies also show kids tend to be more willing to eat vegetables when they’ve been involved in cooking them themselves.

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One of the schools taking advantage of the programme is Holly Hill Church School in Rubery in the West Midlands. Bursar Michelle Evans goes out each weekend to buy the fruit and veg using the gift card provided by Tesco. She said: "We are based in one of the most deprived parts of Birmingham. If we can relieve pressure on parents, we will do what we can.

"We try to give the children something different every day. We had lychees last week, we've had mangos, papaya, melon and passionfruit - it's a great way for them to try new things, new textures. Sometimes it will be different-sized carrots or yellow or orange tomatoes. When we ask them if they've tried these things before most of the time, they say no."

The scope for the slow cookers is huge with assistant headteacher Cally Parsonage now looking for ways to utilise the device not only to fill bellies but also as part of everyday learning in the classroom. The preparation of food can involve mathematics in measurements and budgeting, science in nutrition and literacy in writing down recipes.

She said: "I'm now looking at how I can incorporate the slow cookers into the curriculum. In the past when the children have prepared foods, like gingerbread men at Christmas, they had to be taken to the kitchen to cook and then brought back to them in the classroom. Now it will be great for the children to see their food being cooked from start to finish."

The 400 schools taking part in the Tesco Fruit & Veg for Schools scheme across the UK are able to shop for the fruit and veg the school needs in stores local to their school. Many of those schools are now taking up the offer of slow cookers - an initiative that came from a suggestion by one of the teachers at Hillborough Junior School who used a Tesco Stronger Starts grant to set up a slow cooker club that saw pupils prepare and cook meals and take them home for their families to share.

Claire De Silva, Head of Communities at Tesco, said: "Tesco Fruit & Veg for Schools is making a significant difference by providing young people in some of the most challenged communities in the UK with more of the essential vitamins and minerals that children need to thrive. The slow cookers will help schools go even further in encouraging pupils to give healthy foods a try and form habits that will stay with them as they grow up."

According to The Institute For Global Food Security: Queens University Belfast, learning to cook at a young age can set young people up with positive dietary patterns for adulthood. Only 12% of children aged between 11 and 18 are meeting the five-a-day recommendation and for children taking part in the scheme, Tesco expects to see their overall fruit and veg intake increase by 23%, based on the average 5-a-day intakes in school-aged children.

Chef Poppy O’Toole, who is supporting the campaign, said: “Making sure young people have a healthy diet packed with nutritious food is an important part of giving them a stronger start in life. Getting youngsters involved in preparing and cooking food is the best way to encourage them to try new foods and help them develop healthy eating habits that will hopefully stay with them for life."

Elaine Hindal, Chief Executive of the British Nutrition Foundation, said: "We are delighted to see that the scheme has already delivered almost 2.5 million portions of fruit and vegetables into schools, contributing to improving diets of children and young people. It’s particularly inspiring to see the wide variety of different produce being purchased. With over 80 different types so far, from asparagus to edamame and persimmon to pomegranate, these varieties may be new to children and likely out of reach on the tight budget that schools usually have to work to."

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