Growing Our Five-A-Day event

We brought together growers, health campaigners and those working in supply chains to discuss the potential win-wins of increasing fruit and veg consumption and production in the UK, and ask policymakers to produce a robust and holistic Horticulture Strategy with joined-up policies to realise the multiple benefits for health, the environment and food security.

Podcast: Analysis from the event

Event highlights

Professor Rosemary Green kicked off proceedings by presenting the research and evidence generated by the SHEFS research consortium showing that we are not eating or producing enough fruit and vegetables and that our supply chains are under threat due to climate change.

There was then a lively panel discussion which featured representatives from production, consumption and supply chains.

Professor Rosemary Green

John Shropshire (G’s Fresh group) highlighted the multiple barriers that producers are facing and the need for long term policy and investment on areas such as seasonal labour and securing sustainable water systems for the future.

Also on the panel was Rich Osborn, the founder of Equilibrium Markets, a supply chain technology company. He explained how he has been using dynamic food procurement and software automation to help link smaller scale producers and public sector procurers, such as in schools, hospitals, prisons and universities. This exciting innovation could provide multiple benefits.

Rich Osborn and Bee Wilson

He said: ''I believe that if people understood what people understood what they were putting into their mouths, they'd make the decisions that [the SHEFS research] is advocating.

"The problem is that it's so opaque; in most of the settings where you buy food as a procurer or a consumer, you just don't know what the externalities are associated with that food, or even the nutritional value.

Growers, health campaigners and policymakers attended

"Short, digitised supply chains can really demonstrate transparency and this allows procurers and consumers to make informed choices.''

Bee Wilson, representing the consumption side of the discussion, talked about the fascinating work her charity, TastEd does in trying to revolutionise the way food education is taught in early years settings in the UK.

Growing Our Five a Day panellists 

''With food policy, preference and pleasure are the missing part of the picture. We've got to make people want to put healthy foods in their mouth, especially children," she said.

"Even if schools and nurseries are serving a range of fruit and vegetables, children can only benefit from that if they like the food. Simply asking someone to eat something doesn't work - you get there through joy.''

We celebrated home-grown fruit and veg with a bountiful display of seasonal, locally produced fresh produce by Growing Communities, a wholesaler supplying 20 businesses and a local authority across London from 23 organic UK farms, so everyone was able to take their 5-A-Day home with them.

Fruit and veg from Growing Communities

There was widespread agreement that increasing the production and consumption of fruit and veg offers the potential to improve both our own health, and the health of our environment.

However we need government leadership to design food environments which encourage healthy food choices and a Horticulture Strategy which supports our farmers to ensure the resilience of our future fruit and vegetable supplies.