Move follows research showing kids who learn to cook are more likely to eat healthily
Tesco is donating slow cookers to schools in an initiative aimed at helping schoolchildren learn how to prepare and cook nutritious fruit and veg recipes.
The donations build on the £4m Tesco Fruit & Veg for Schools programme, launched in October last year with influencer and Michelin-trained chef Poppy O’Toole. The programme provides funding for more than 140,000 pupils to receive at least one piece of fruit or veg a day and gives their diets a healthy and nutritious boost.
Tesco Fruit & Veg for Schools supports pupils in over 400 schools where there is a higher-than-average free school meal ratio, and in total aims to provide around 16mn pieces of fruit and vegetables. Over a school year, that equates to 110 portions per child on average.
Since the launch of the scheme, pupils in the schools taking part have received almost 2.5mn portions of fruit and veg. The five most popular items of fruit were apples bananas, oranges, kiwi and satsumas, and most popular veg were potatoes and carrots.
The slow cookers will help the schools currently receiving fruit and veg make the most of the produce they’re receiving and teach pupils how to prepare, cook and try nutritious recipes, according to Tesco.
The donations were inspired by Hillborough Junior School, who used a Tesco Stronger Starts grant to set up a slow cooker club that saw pupils prepare and cook meals and take them home for their families to share.
According to The Institute For Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast, learning to cook at a young age can set young people up with positive dietary patterns for adulthood. Children tend to be more willing to eat vegetables and food in general when they’ve been involved in cooking it.
Only 12 per cent of children aged between 11 and 18 are meeting the 5 A Day recommendation and for children taking part in the scheme, Tesco expects to see their overall fruit and veg intake increase by 23 per cent.
The focus on areas with higher free school meal participation is particularly important because data shows that families on lower incomes struggle to afford a healthy diet.
Claire De Silva, head of communities at Tesco, said: “Tesco Fruit & Veg for Schools is making a significant difference by providing young people in some of the most challenged communities in the UK with more of the essential vitamins and minerals that children need to thrive. The slow cookers will help schools go even further in encouraging pupils to give healthy foods a try and form habits that will stay with them as they grow up.”
