Convenience stores across London have been given an innovative fruit and vegetable 'makeover' as part of the Buywell Project, launched by Rosie Boycott last week, aimed at increasing 5 A DAY consumption and store profits.
The Buywell Project is working with a Costcutter in Tower Hamlets and 16 other stores across London to increase the availability and affordability of fruit and vegetables in some of London's most deprived areas.
Each of the stores has been supported to improve their fruit and vegetable sales by improving quality, range, freshness and location and appointing a member of staff to champion fresh fruit and veg in store.
In July, it was announced, following a successful pilot in the North East, shops across England could join Change4Life and work with their local NHS trust to promote healthier eating in their communities and the Buywell stores have been carrying this branding.
Salam Sheikh who runs Costcutter in Tower Hamlets said: "Since making changes with the Buywell Project, I've sold more fruit and vegetables in one day than I usually do in a whole week."
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and Rosie Boycott, his appointed chair of the London Food Board, are working to boost access to fresh food in London through schemes such as this and Capital Growth, which aims to create 2,012 new food growing plots in communities across London by 2012.
Rosie Boycott, who attended the Buywell launch, said: "The patchy provision of good quality, affordable fresh fruit and veg can be a major problem for some Londoners. The Buywell project is excellent as it puts fresh fruit and veg directly into local shops where people want to do their day to day shopping and enthuses staff so they can be more knowledgeable about stocking healthier food.”
Esther Trenchard-Mabere, associate director of Public Health, NHS Tower Hamlets and Healthy Borough Programme lead director, said: "Our Healthy Borough programme is supporting schemes like this because we want to make it easier for children and families to be able to buy healthy food locally. Children in Tower Hamlets have amongst the highest rates of obesity in the country and our long-term aim is to help everyone to maintain a healthy weight throughout their lives. This will help to reduce the risk of diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer."
The Buywell project is launching in 12 stores in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and five stores in other boroughs - Westminster, Hounslow, Lewisham, Lambeth and Hammersmith and Fulham.
