Having a healthy diet is one of the most important ways to maintain an active lifestyle and protect against health problems. This is especially true amongst older people, and is why Door To Door Healthy Meals support the Department of Health’s 5 A DAY programme.
Door To Door, of which I am company director, prepares and delivers healthy and nutritional meals to older people who cannot or choose not to prepare meals themselves. Each week, menus are supplied which display the meal choices for that week - all of which include at least two portions of fresh fruit and veg. Door To Door has been a 5 A DAY partner and has been delivering healthy meals to older and vulnerable people for over two years. We now display the 5 A DAY Just Eat More (fruit and veg) logo on all of our literature, including our menus, as this helps to reinforce the healthy eating ethos that we champion.
As an estimated 500,000 elderly people are thought to be malnourished within the UK, we believe that providing easy-to-order, convenient meals high in fruit and vegetable content to this group is a huge step towards avoiding the condition. A major component of a healthy diet is consuming a variety of fruit and vegetables, which can contribute greatly to a healthier lifestyle. This is why Door To Door promotes the 5 A DAY message in its work.
In support of the 5 A DAY programme, we make sure that with all the food we prepare, we give older people as wide a choice as possible and include all the major food groups in our menus. In addition, our menus incorporate a variety of fruits and vegetables to meet different tastes and wants each day.
We try to ensure through this choice and variety that our older patrons will not find themselves with the same meal within a four-week period. The only thing all our meals have in common is they all come with at least two side portions of fresh vegetables, which are usually seasonal. We try to make our desserts fruit based, such as poached pears, fruit crumble and lemon tart. For example, one of our lunch options is a freshly prepared vegetable-based soup or a healthy salad roll.
Our aim at Door To Door is to make interesting and tasty meals that will supply at least three portions of fruit and vegetables per day to clients. This is a huge step towards helping them achieve their 5 A DAY.
We are committed to helping people achieve this goal, despite other factors affecting their lifestyle. As part of this, Door To Door is now holding training sessions for carers of older and vulnerable people, as well as older and vulnerable people themselves. The sessions will cover the importance of healthy eating, how to achieve 5 A DAY, and many other aspects of day-to-day nutrition.We will continue to work with 5 A DAY and use the logo to help raise awareness of the importance of fruit and veg.
