Free fruit and veg for toddlers/

[Hulababy]

linknews.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3492939.stm\free vouchers{} for fruit and veggies for low income familes. What do you think?

I don't need lower prices, as I have the great good fortune to have enough money. That would waste money, by making it cheaper for thise that dont need it.

What we should do is make sure that the poorest in our communities have enough money to live on as well. Without having to resort to vouchers.

But isn't it something wrong when it's cheaper to buy crappy food like biscuits, crisps and pork pies than healthy food?

see todays news, we as a nation spend more on booze than fruit or veg!
Speaks volumes, and thats only for over 18's (ostensibly)

is it cheaper? Or is it cheaper to buy biscuits as 'a treat', whereas fruit seen as 'a treat' would be more expensive....like a melon or peaches.

'Ordinary' fruit isn't so expensive...granted that people still need more money to get it. An apple in Sainburies comes in at about 10p, a lot less than a Mars bar at 30p.

I also agree with a previous poster that people need to be taught how to prepare and cook fresh fruit and vegetables. We have all been 'conned' by the convenience food manufacturers. Their stuff is far more expensive but many people, rich and poor alike, buy it because they don't know how to cook!

HMB, if you have very little money, it is a lot cheaper for your weekly shop to get frozen/tinned food rather than fresh ingredients. I agree that an apple as a treat isn't that expensive, but you have to look at people's total food budget. Try getting all fresh ingredients and cook with lots of veg and you will see that it's more expensive than living on sausage -rolls and chips.
Look at the price of berries. It's really healthy, but ridiculously expensive. I think the idea of a fat tax is good. Tax fatty foods and put the money towards subsidising fruit and veg!

My goodness - yu can get bundles of fruit at markets for hardly any money at all and a mars bar or treat is soo much more expensive.

I think the problem with low income families - and I may be generalising but they ned to be educated about diet and nutrition and what it actually does to childrens bodies and brains to be fed on frozen chips and nuggets every day. Mind you I am sure there are families that can afford lots of fresh produce who feed their kids on mind altering junk!!

Maybe the route would be to give out sort of ration books which low income familes can exchange for staples yet still get their benefits - although it would be good to see the books being tied to local produce - keeping the farmers happy too and maybe cutting the amount of imported produce shipped into the country and so benefiting the economy (must keep the government happy) and the people - ooohh may run for local election one of these days and change the world.

Lavendar - I had views somewhat like yours when I first joined mumsnet but feel I am a better person for speaking to mums like stupidgirl on here (and we have had our run ins believe me!!) - I do take offence at some of your comments about bettering ourselves etc etc - especially when using a man who has battered his wife and hurt his kids as an example!! (Sorry painful for you but there we go!!)

"see todays news, we as a nation spend more on booze than fruit or veg!
Speaks volumes, and thats only for over 18's (ostensibly)"

I have to say that's the biggest non-news I've ever heard! Of course we spend more - booze is more expensive due to all the tax on it!!!!

A bottle of wine a week (which isn't excessive by any stretch of the imagination) is a fiver... you could easily get a fair amount of fruit and veg for a fiver...

It's a bit like saying "we as a nation spend more on our house than we do our shoes" ... hardly a fair comparison!

anyone read 'Fast Food Nation'? frightening stuff....in America the huge fast food conglomerates prop up the government and so receive gigantic subsidies in return,hence fast food is very cheap.Also, crops are genetically modified as a matter of course.This will be happening in the UK soon.This means organic produce will become even more expensive that it already is. And we will be fucked for life, IMO.

It might well be that many lower-income families need more education in nutrition Twinkie. I am sure you are partly right, but I also think it's quite patronising to give them vouchers ear-marked fruit. It's a bit like saying we don't trust you to feed your children properly and we need to gve vouchers because otherwise you might spend it on booze....I don't like the idea at all. And fruit and veg is comparatively expensive!

Does no-one else live in an LEA where primary school kids get given free fruit at morning break? Admittedly it's run of the mill stuff, apples, pears, bananas, but better than nothing.

Children in our area of Scotland get fresh fruit as a snack, MariaLuisa. It isn't always ordinary stuff, they have melon, grapes and so on. The little containers it comes in are useful for paint and glue, as well!

Re low incomes, my mum has never had more than a basic wage or pension coming in. But she's a good money manager and cook. She eats incredibly well, making most things from fresh ingredients and even manages to treat herself to food from M&S ocasionally. She's currently helping a neighbour to feed her little boy properly after he developed bowel problems and isn't growing as he should. I don't get on with my mum in some respects but I do admire her for her coping abilities.

Fairymum your point on the implying that we as parents are not in other words trustworthy was my impression on this subject.
Why does the govt assume that because you are poor that you dont eat healthily????

I have been on the bones of my backside but still fed my kids fruit and veg and inexpensive homemade food.
I find convenience foods expensive and would rather make a cheaper home made version, using my imagination and frustration.
ok sometimes I cock it up but I keep trying till I get it right.

MariaLuisa we too get free fruit at school but the school also sells little bottles of pop for 50p(full of E's etc) so IMO it is defeating the object of a child having a healthy diet IYKWIM.

Only Reception children get the fruit as a morning snack in our school.

However, this is not free as we have to pay £3 every half-term. I am quite happy to pay for it and would be even happier if they extended the practice right through to Year 6.

After Reception class, they are not allowed ANY snacks at all and the only drinks provided (other than lunch time) are the water from the fountains in the playground.

ds's school have been giving them fruit for some time now and they are only allowed to bring water or milk to school. They also can drink water at their desk during the day to help improve concentration etc.

Doormat, aren't you Merseyside way too? Agree about the pop, presumably another money-raising measure.

MariaLuisa yes from MS
and yes too re the raising of school funds.

Our school has been giving free fruit to infants for some time. Prior to that and ongoing they have had 'healthy eating' policies in school: only snacks allowed are fruit, only drink allowed is water, and fairly strict guidelines on what a packed lunch should/should not contain.

IMO it has a big impact on the children's diets. We live in a fairly deprived area, and (at school) the children eat more healthily. ... We used to live in a well-off, well-educated area - and all the kids had chocolate and crisps at breaktime, not to mention what was in their lunchbox!

My children have always eaten a lot of fruit n veg, but they eat even more because of school positive policies. And if they'd gone to a school where 'the norm' was a chocolate bar at breaktime, I think it would have been very difficult to resist.

In defence Georgina, I cerainly spend far more on fresh fruit and veges than on alcohol and we drink quite liberally.
It is news as far as I'm concerned

kiwisbird: the news article mentioned the difference as £5.90 of alcohol a week and £5.40 a week of fruit & veg. Neither of the quantities that's likely to purchase are indicative of an unbalanced diet.

Trying to compare price of two completely different foodstuffs is totally nonsensical.

shrug maybe I'm just "lucky" and have expensive tastes in alcohol and cheap tastes in fruit/veg, but I really don't think so!!

Doormat, I don't think the Govt is suggesting that low income families can't be trusted, although that has been implied in some of the messages here. The Govt is expanding the sheme from just milk. IMHO, (and as someone who is going to benefit) I think this is a good thing.

I do resent the implication that because I am on a low income I can't feed my children properly. I manage my budget very carefully, and we eat healthily. We are veggies, I don't buy ready meals or convenience foods, or processed foods with too much fat/salt/sugar/additives etc.

It seems that in some peoples minds, low income = uneducated/stupid.

Twinkie, thanks for your comments, I know we don't agree on most things, but it's nice to know some of what I say makes some kind of difference

GeorginaA - that was my thought when I read that!

Fairy mum, cheaper food would mean it was the farmers who lost out. They are paid so little as it is.

guess its just me then, sorry for being such a dumbass tit and not reading whole article thoroughly. I had better things to do... tee hee like rummaging through todays posts on MN
oh and parenting one very poorly dd who might do better on Guinness than she is doing on expensive bloody fruit and veg

Kiwisbird - well it has iron in it - must be good for her

runs very very fast

hope she gets better soon

FairyMum, at last someone speaking sense! All fruit and veg should be cheaper. To be honest the everyday fruit and veg is affordable in the weekly shop but to have a varied diet and to introduce new foods to my ds twin toddler I just can't stretch to buying the expensive options every week. Especially considering the nappy bill - roll on potty training working!
I am afraid I buy tinned and frozen when the budget is tight.
We don't buy alcohol or cigarettes as we don't smoke or drink so we aren't spending on that. And as we don't partake I'll be ultra-cheeky and say that tax on both those items could be raise and the money go to subsidising a reduction in the price of fruit etc!
And Lavender1, no hard feelings, I just need to get used to getting vouchers, not "working" and can be touchy if I feel people are seeing me as a scrounger.

If not its bloody good for me!
LOL midwifves used to bring it round for nursing mums, that must make it ok, sod the spinach and organic chevre
I'm off to the offie

I just want to write a quick message as original one came out all gobaldyguck...

I do not have a problem with people claiming benefits because everyone has times within their lives when they need assistance...what I think is wrong is Tony Blair saying you can have this free when some people have had to really work hard to get where they are...and others just get it handed it out....from my own experience my friend will not work more than 10 hours a week because she will loose her benefits, yet I work 4-5 days a week and am often exhausted because of this and think that if you can work the extra hours (ie.if you're in sound health then you should) I guess the gripe was really with my friend who gets benefits when she could easily work 20 hours plus a week as children are at school...sometimes my way with words isn't completely coherent and to whoever I have upset or made to feel silly I am sincerely sorry...am sure all you mumsnetters would work all the hours godsend if you could and wouldn't take handouts because it's easy...so sorry for my views....btw did actually think £5 a week was affordable by anyone and if hard to find then they could use their talents to find a job that would enable them to provide a better standard of living and furthering their own career....because (it came out the wrong way) we are all capable of big things...some people are optimists some pessimists...