A report last year claims that a government initiative to give children access to free fruit and vegetables could be having an unforeseen and unwanted result.
Last year, the Soil Association published State of the Nation, a report that gives an insight into how children have eaten in 2018, and on the political, environmental and social forces that influence our children’s diets. One scheme to come under fire, however, was the School Fruit and Veg Scheme; a £40 million initiative introduced by the government in 2004. Ensuring that all state-funded primary schools offer fourto six-year-olds a free piece of fruit or veg each school day, it should be a golden opportunity to diversify children’s tastes and instil a love of fresh produce. Yet, according to the Soil Association, in some cases this is a lost opportunity because the produce is “so lacking in flavour and texture, it’s teaching [children] to actively dislike (or at least distrust) fruit and veg”.
And as the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
It’s not unusual for children to say they don’t like a food because of one negative experience — perhaps if every bag of carrots or apples came with a free toy, things would be different. But the reality is that fruit and veg sellers don’t have the budgets to market their produce in the way that many big brand manufacturers can afford to market fast food or sugary snacks. And poor-quality produce doesn’t help the cause.
The Soil Association says that A Food for Life survey of teachers conducted in 2018 revealed that whilst 92 per cent of teachers thought the free fruit and veg scheme had potential to increase children’s fruit and veg consumption, some were highly critical of produce quality. One teacher was cited as saying: “Pears are under-ripe and hard, carrots have been sweating in bags for days. Generally, the produce is not as fresh as we would hope, and this means the children don’t eat it”.
Classroom experience
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