Lee Abbey is the NFU's horticulture adviser
He writes:
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Five-a-day was the front runner for a while, but many of us are left confused over what a portion size is and whether we can count the toppings on a pizza or the apples in a pie.
Then there’s the Eat Well plate with its pictorial account of what a balanced diet should be. It looks great until you see that it implies eating a chocolate bar every day is okay - that’s not what I want to teach my kids.
So, how about the traffic light labels on pack? Can I really trust a scheme that tells me diet coke is better for me than orange juice? And then there’s the fad diet, with its funky slogans and celebrity endorsements. My wife’s friend’s uncle’s niece swears by it. So, a 5+2 diet it is then.
It needn’t be this confusing. We should get back to the basics and have a simple campaign that the entire food industry could, and should, get behind.
The NFU horticulture team is lobbying retailers to make it easier for shoppers to buy British fruit and vegetables as part of their weekly shop.
For me, the way forward is the five-a-day mantra. With the whole food industry working together, it shouldn’t be too difficult to explain what a portion size is and how it can easily fit into our diets. For example, pre-packaged fruit and vegetables are increasing in popularity, so why don’t retailers make packs that are set by portion size?
There should be more fruit and vegetable snack packs in the shops too. They provide a great ‘grab and go’ alternative to chocolate bars and sweets and if they were also packaged in single portions, it would make it easy for consumers to work towards their 5-a-day.
UK growers produce some of the best fruit and vegetables in the world. Eating more fruit and vegetables not only supports British growers, but it improves the nation’s health and saves the NHS money. It’s time we came together and made it happen.