Pledge for veg - Kitchen Garden

Veg Power is on a mission to get the UK eating its greens

Kids are bombarded with junk food advertising, say the campaign organisers, but only 1.2% of the UK’s food and drink advertising spend is for vegetables. A new crowdfunded campaign aims to change that.

The initiative, which is supported by celebrities including Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, has launched an appeal with the goal of raising an initial £100,000 to establish a permanent advertising fund for veg. The long-term goal is for Veg Power to be sustainably funded by government and the food industry.

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Around one in three children leave primary school obese or overweight, and 80% of children and over 95% of teenagers do not eat enough vegetables, according to Food Foundation figures. The Veg Power campaign aims to inspire children to enjoy vegetables, and to support parents by offering a positive alternative to junk food advertising. The organisers point to the success of the British Summer Fruits advertising campaign – which has helped sales of berries rise from £370m to £1.26bn – as evidence of the difference that marketing can make.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall says, “Eighty per cent of our children are not eating enough veg and it’s impacting their health. There’s endless junk food advertising but why aren’t we marketing the good stuff to our kids? Let’s do something really amazing. Let’s power up the next generation with vegetables!”

To find out more and lend your support, go to https://vegpower.org.uk

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Steve Ott

Steve Ott is editor of Kitchen Garden magazine and started his career as a professional grower, producing everything from cut flowers to vegetables. He has been growing fruit and veg all his life and spends most of his spare time in his garden in the East Midlands. He loves to experiment with crops and varieties he has never grown before and when he isn’t gardening is to be found out in the countryside bird watching and walking his dog Ted.