Six English health and local authorities are considering taking up the Food Dudes scheme to increase consumption among children.
Professor Fergus Lowe of Bangor University, who first started developing the project a decade ago, told FPJ that soon other authorities could follow the lead set in the UK by Wolverhampton Primary Care Trust, announced last month. “We are talking to about six other Primary Care Trusts and local authorities that are actively seeking funding to take up Food Dudes,” said Lowe. “We are not really canvassing for more at the collaborative group, but the School Food Trust, which is a member of the group, has really led the way in making the contacts.
“If Wolverhampton can show some success, then that will demonstrate to other areas in England that Food Dudes works.”
A team from Wolverhampton has already visited Ireland to witness the early stages of national rollout by the government. Lowe said: “Roll-out is about half way now and the reception from schools has been extremely positive. Teachers are telling us it takes up a bit more of their time but it is worth it, as they are so impressed by the changes in the children’s diet. We have also had some wonderful letters from parents thanking us for the huge change it has made in their kids’ lives.”
Independent research carried out by University College Dublin backs this up, with 99 per cent of parents saying they believe Food Dudes will change the health of their children.
The programme has been modernised several times since it was first developed in the 1990s. New sets of videos are made at regular intervals and are updated to feature up-to-the-minute celebrities.
Lowe also believes that the trade in the UK can get behind the scheme to support it in a way Irish produce companies have done. He said: “The trade can help in a variety of ways. Often one of the biggest obstacles to getting started for PCTs or local authorities is funding. The trade could have a role there and of course where it is running, it has a key role in supplying produce. In Ireland, the fresh produce industry played a very big part in the early stages of the programme that is terrifically successful now.”
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