Tesco’s £4m Fruit & Veg for Schools scheme is giving up to 140k kids across the UK access to free, healthy fruit and veg to help them thrive at school
A £4million fruit and veg fund has been launched by Tesco to help combat classroom hunger.
Tesco Fruit & Veg for Schools, supported by the British Nutrition Foundation, is handing out up to 16 million pieces of fresh fruit and vegetables over the next academic year. It means that up to 140,000 kids will each receive at least one extra piece of fruit or veg a day.
The initiative was launched in response to figures showing that children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds face a higher risk of health problems and obesity due to poor diets. Only 12% of children aged between 11 and 18 are getting the recommended five-a-day*.
Research has also shown that children born into families in the bottom 20% in terms of income are 12 times more likely to experience poor health and educational outcomes by the age of 17 than their more affluent peers**.
“It’s deeply concerning that children are starting life with poor diets,” says Elaine Hindal, chief executive of the British Nutrition Foundation.
“Young people need a balanced diet for all kinds of reasons, from physical development and focusing in class, to lifelong wellbeing and even mental health.
“This programme can give a vital helping hand both to busy parents and to children, who may well be more willing to eat things at home that they’ve had a chance to try at school.”
The Fruit & Veg for Schools initiative comes at a time when many schools are struggling with rising costs.
Research from Groundwork UK found that 78% of schools are currently having to provide food for pupils – putting even greater pressure on budgets that are already stretched.
To make sure that funding goes where it’s most needed, the supermarket has invited schools to take part based on the proportion of pupils receiving free school meals.
From this month, selected schools will be able to use a digital gift card preloaded with donations to obtain a range of fruit and vegetables. These can be served at breakfast clubs, offered as part of healthy tuck shops, or even given to children to take home.
Stronger Starts has awarded funding of more than £9m to date to over 8,000 projects.
That was launched by the retailer last year to support community projects and fund healthy activities like breakfast clubs and gardening classes, as well as playground equipment and football kits.
“As Britain’s largest retailer, we’ve got an incredible link with schools and communities,” says Tesco’s company nutritionist Laura Farrell.
“By helping children eat five-a-day, we’re also really lowering the risk of serious health problems later in life such as heart disease, stroke, and even types of cancer.
“If we can get those healthy behaviours established at a young age, we’re really setting people up for life.”
The scheme is part of Tesco’s wider bid to make it easier for all customers to eat healthy meals, adds Laura.
“We’ve made a commitment that by 2025, 65% of our sales will come from foods that are deemed healthy. We’ve made great progress on that by promoting healthier food types, and providing education through community work like Stronger Starts.
“We’re helping our customers achieve a healthier, balanced diet.”
Find out more at tescoplc.com/fruitandveg
*National Diet and Nutrition Survey. **Millennium Cohort Study/The Lancet Public Health 2023
