The Eat in Colour (EiC) roadshow completed a 1,500-mile whistle-stop tour of the UK this week, taking a revamped ice-cream van offering fruit and vegetables to young families in holiday hotspots around the country - and the kids could not wait to get stuck in.
The six-day trip to holiday parks around the British coast aimed to reinforce the message that fresh produce is the quick, easy, tasty and inexpensive route to a healthy diet.
Treats such as fruit kebabs, roast veg skewers, minty pea salad, fruit smoothies and chocolate-dipped bananas were handed out to some 3,500 families around the UK.
EiC chairman Anthony Levy said: “Wherever we went the kids were really excited at the prospect of trying something different and not at all disappointed that we weren’t offering ice creams or burgers. I think we even managed to surprise some parents who thought their children didn’t like fruit and vegetables. It just goes to show - the natural colours and flavours of fresh produce are more than enough to entice youngsters to try something healthy.”
The fresh produce-themed van, complete with traditional Greensleeves jingle, but without a packaged snack in sight, visited six Haven Holiday Parks, kicking off in North Wales on July 29, and stopping in Scotland, North Yorkshire, Great Yarmouth, Hastings and Exmouth, before finishing in Windsor on August 4. The EiC team gave cookery demonstrations and offered free samples of fresh fruit and vegetable treats.
The initiative showed that kids can be easily enticed into eating their greens - especially when they are served from an ice-cream van.
“For most of us the prospect of slaving over a hot stove after a busy day, especially when we’re on holiday, is simply too much - it just seems easier and cheaper to take the ready meal or takeaway route,” Levy said. “But healthy eating needn’t be an ordeal. Eat in Colour is all about making sure that fun and flavour is on the menu. It’s about bringing colour to family mealtimes with easy ways to include fruit and vegetables alongside our favourite dishes.”
Levy insisted that with a little help even the most unaccomplished cook can serve up a feast of colour everyday. The EiC campaign has its own website, www.eatincolour.com, which is packed with serving suggestions and tips aimed at the consumer, alongside advice on how parents can get fussy children to eat their greens.
