Chef Poppy O’Toole on healthy eating

We were all brought up on the saying ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’, however new research has highlighted how pupils across the UK are struggling to maintain their quota of fruit and vegetables for a healthy diet.

Concerningly, 90% of kids aged between 11 and 18 are not meeting the five-a-day recommendation on fruit and vegetables. In fact, 1 in 4 schoolteachers across England admit to bringing in healthy food for pupils in the last term to help kids up their intake, which is a rise from the year.

Currently in England, the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme provides a free piece of fruit or vegetable to children aged 4–6 who attend fully state-funded schools, but this stops for children in key stage 2 and above.

The Tesco Fruit & Veg for Schools scheme, which has been developed in partnership with the British Nutrition Foundation, will support pupils in 400 schools where there is a higher-than-average free school meal ratio, and in total will provide around 16 million pieces of fruit and vegetables. Over a school year, that’s the equivalent of 110 portions per child on average.

Aston spoke to chef, author and TikTok star Poppy O’Toole & Claire De Silva, head of communities at Tesco.

Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash