Money for pregnant women to buy fruit and veg ....

[ComeOVeneer]

thoughts?

Or why didn't the Government approach the big five supermarkets and ask them to endorse fruit and veg vouchers instead of handing out cash?

It just seems a big daft and throwing money at the problem once more.

I like the home economics class idea. Home ec and childcare should be compulsory GCSEs like maths and English.

I didn't fail at breastfeeding, my dd went hungry for weeks because I wouldn't give it up and go on the formula. I was constantly getting pressure from NCT types to continue and it was bullshit. My baby was very weak and floppy and being hungry didn't help her. I didn't fucking fail at breastfeeding back off.

I so relate to this MM fwiw

Home ec should be compulsory yes, at my school it was for 2 years, as was childcare (for the girls ).

There are other ways important nutrition can be taught- we had a farm at our school where some of the Sn students grew fruit and veg,, it would have been great if all could have done- some surestarts do this I know, with great success. Also, at homeStart we collated, printed and sold (gave free to our famillies who wanted one) boooks of cheap, easy receipes- really simple things like beany casserole, but extremely nutritious.

Personally, I can think of better ways to spend the cash- kids in cre, or branches of homestart that are threatened with bankruptcy- but I do think with this policy the heart is in the right place

ok havn't read whole thread because it's long but i think they are going the wrong way about it. vouchers akin to milk tokens would be a great idea, but £120 cash? when i was 7 months pg we would have needed that money for baby stuff as had sweet fanny adams!

and isn't 7months a bit too late really?

My guess is the 29 weeks is to concide with the start of amternity leave at its earliest (assuming the laws the same as when I went on mat leve last 4 years ago, anyway). Most wohm get Mat pay but there are some that dont and take quite a bashing in income- temps, people who started work when they were already pg, etc. Obv I dont know this is the case- its just surmising. And whilst its obv better to start eating better from day 1, any time os better than none! Certainly for me, it would be worthless before 20 weeks because of the sickness.

So, update from news on radio today, apparently you will have to attend some form of nutrition talk beforehand and only then will you receive up to £200 to spend on food.

BUT no checks on what you do spend it on, which is ridiculous, and 29 weeks is far too late to make any difference to the baby as it is fully formed by then so is just growing...
I dont' know, it gets madder and madder

(although FCH, I know what you mean, you could get a nice new outfit to replace your stinking maternity clothes after the birtha s well!)

Stinking as in nasty and boring BTW! I do wash them

They already have a system in place ffs for getting people to buy fruit and veg! I really can't see why, if they want to give women money to buy fruit and veg, they don't just extend and perhaps increase the current system of vouchers to all pregnant women and not just those on benefit.

custardo, but u can see my point! And mrs.m are u still waiting for your apology??

Yeah, where is she - my sleeves are rolled up. They will roll down when the olive branch is offered.

7 months seems a bit late for this, if this is to happen they should give it in vouchers form so that it HAS to be spent on healthy food. Otherwise it is a waste of money that could be spent on the nhs etc

sorry not read all read as so tired, but what happened to the healthy eating vouchers.(those on low incomes that are preg or young children get weekly vouchers to spend on milk or fruit and veg). surely giving lump sum of money could be asking for trouble. in some cases it could be used to support drug,alcohol or smoking habits obviously not helpful to baby. or partners using it for thier needs, my ex would of used it for his gambling

I reckon Moondog is behind all of this. She actually is, but asked for good food to be provided from conception, but they turned her down as it would cost too much!

Come on Moondog, you can stop hiding

I think it is totally outrageous that the government sells off school playgrounds and sports grounds, scraps Home Economics lessons in schools, both of which teach us to live healthily through diet and exercise and then throws money at people when they are 7 months pregnant. It's too late by then.

The people it is aimed at are hardly likely to change their poor diet without the knowledge of how to do so.

It costs more to eat unhealthily than to eat healthily. Ready meals and convenience foods cost far more than basic fruit, veg, meat, fish and pulses. You don't have to buy a super duper deluxe organic veg box to be healthy.

I work in the Department of Health and when I've seen the speech might post the link just to see what Alan Johnson is actually saying. If it is as simplistic as this then my colleagues are barking.

sorry way to long to read but general gist is its a truely rubbish idea and I agree with all those that say low income families already get vouchers and the money should go on better maternity services and breast feeding support - now where can we go to let the politicans know? come on someone must have a link so we can get our voices heard!

iw ould actually disagree witht he statement ( ont he whole ...average joe - not pulse soup maker for 7p supreme) that its cheaper to eat healthier. esp if one has a large family - fresh meat, fuit and veg is very expensive - if you know where to shop you can actually eat really cheaply unhealthily.

anyway. i want a bag of crisp - someone go to shop for me.

There is a government e-petition about this and if you dont agree that pregnant mums should have cash, but 'green vouchers' instead to buy healthy stuff you can register your vote with 10 downing street by linking to

petitions.pm.gov.uk/pregnancygrant/

I'm going to disagree with a lot of people here and say I see nothing wrong with giving pregnant women a bit of extra CASH to help them buy healthy food.

£120 worth of fruit at once and nothing else seems a bit impractical, would be more useful having a bit extra a week or month.

In 2009 they're due to start paying Child Benefit from the 29th week of pregnancy, aren't they?

I think it should be cash not vouchers because vouchers are likely to limit where they can be spent and they involve a lot of admin and are more of a hassle for everyone concerned.

I don't normally get fresh fruit and veg from the supermarket, I get food that will keep there and buy fresh stuff from local shops, and vouchers wouldn't give me or others in this area who prefer local shops that choice.

I think vouchers would make it much more expensive to give women extra financial help.

During my pregnancy I had a spell of eating lots of melon dominated fruit salads and watermelon - sources were staff canteen, Tesco and local shops for the watermelon. I was having a lot of trouble making myself eat because of a fear of chucking up again, and the fruit stayed down and made me feel a little bit better. It wasn't cheap but I was probably saving a fortune on all the other food I'd simply stopped buying because I couldn't cope with it.

But rather than a one off "healthy eating" payment, I think higher rates of universal Child Benefit would be good.

And I think it should remain a benefit which all are entitled to, and not be means tested. No, there's no proof it will be spent on the kids, but honestly, I think the vast majority of women on all incomes spend more than their Child Benefit on their children, and help for healthy eating would be good.

Yes, I pay tax and national insurance and still do even on maternity leave. I'm happy for my money to be given to pregnant women and to hope they'll use it well in terms of their own and baby's health. And I'd like it to be given to them in a sensible, simple way.

No to vouchers.

Actually, I think the govt should just increase Child Benefit rates rather than introducing a separate scheme to get pg women to eat more fruit.

Yes, I'd love to see more money spent on midwives and antenatal and postnatal services too. My baby was back in hospital for 8 days and I stayed with him at a huge cost to the NHS which could have been saved by better immediate postnatal ward and breastfeeding support, but that's about how maternity services are planned.

I think the government should give pregnant women a blender, a freezer and a copy of FrannyandZoe's new book "how to eat healthy for a month and cook just once". Oh and a huge hunking great big pot.

whispers (MrsMarvel I had the same experience as you with DS1. Just wanted you to know that you are not alone).

My sil is newly pregnant and all excited about getting some 'extra' money. She thinks a varied diet means alternating between McDonalds and Kentucky. Her dd's first trip to MacDonalds at 15m was celebrated as a development stage.

No way would she spend it on fruit and veg. Vouchers I say, or a bag of healthy food and recipes to be handed out at ante natal appointments?

It's a very half-baked idea. In fact I would say the Government have gone bananas!

It would be better if they were vouchers though and only ones that could be used at a local greengrocer or fruit and veg co-op etc. Thus supporting local small businesses too, problem sorted!

But a lot of local small businesses find voucher schemes hard to run because it's a hassle reclaiming the money. LOL at McDonalds addict relative but I don't think most people are so feckless, or that what's done should be decided on the negative Daily Mail stereotype.