Ben OsborneThe Government has launched a new effort to persuade improve the health of English families by persuading to eat healthier and more affordable meals. With obesity on the rise and many families struggling to cook healthy balanced meals, the Government is pushing healthy eating by working with supermarkets across the country to provide discounts on healthy ingredients such as low fat yoghurts, fruit and vegetables.
More than a thousand supermarket stores across the country are offering discounts on healthy ingredients such as fruit and veg and low fat yoghurts as part of the Department of Health’s Change 4 Life public health campaign. Four million recipe cards are also being distributed to members of the public, while a recipe finder to help households plan cheaper, more nutritious meals, will launch online.
Public Health Minister Anne Milton said: “The New Year is a good time to think about losing weight. The Supermeals campaign will give us all some great ideas for balanced meals on a budget.”
A Department of Health spokesman pushed the reasoning for this new campaign for 2012, “Shockingly, research has found that the second most popular evening meal is a sandwich opposed to a balanced meal. This doesn’t have to be the case. If we plan our meals and shopping we can save money and make healthier choices at mealtimes.”
Meanwhile, celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott has published a free cookbook containing a month’s worth of popular, healthy recipes which can be created for under £5.
He has also filmed YouTube cooking tutorials which will be posted on the Change 4 Life website as part of the nation-wide Supermeals initiative. The website provides healthy recipes, a seven day meal planner and lots of information on how to get involved and take advantage of the Change 4 Life’s Supermeals supermarket initiative.
Harriott added: “Sometimes the thought of making meals from scratch can seem a bit daunting, but I have always tried to assure people that cooking at home can be really quick, easy and doesn’t need to break the bank. This campaign is a great way to give people the tools and imagination they need to get back into the kitchen and give cooking a try.”
The discounted ingredients will be available at Asda, Co-operative Food and Aldi stores across England, and critics of the scheme have already questioned why the healthy eating vouchers are only available for certain supermarkets rather than redeemable in more shops.
Shadow public health minister Diane Abbott said: “They’re calling this public health but it’s just a glorified advertisement for big business. This is a government that doesn’t take its responsibility around public health seriously. Some areas in inner cities are fresh food deserts so families fall into eating takeaway chicken and chips.”
Independent shops sustain local economies. With the Federation of Small Businesses July 2008 report, Keep Trade Local, highlighting that over 50% of the turnover of independent retailers goes back into the local community, compared with only 5% from supermarkets, allowing smaller businesses to become involved in schemes such as this would perhaps appease critics.
