State-subsidised restaurants to offer nutritious food to deprived households
The restaurants, to open in the summer of next year, will provide 'universal access' to nutritious and sustainably-produced food in social settings, and particularly meet the needs of deprived households with children, Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said.
They are one of six newly announced projects that will receive £8.5 million in Government funding to tackle food inequality, including a mapping tool to direct a mobile greengrocer to visit areas of Liverpool where social housing residents have limited access to fresh fruit and vegetables.
Under the Liverpool initiative, expected to begin in spring of next year, research will direct the 'Queen of Greens' bus, which has delivered fresh fruit and vegetables to communities across Liverpool and Knowsley since 2022, to residents in social housing who may find it harder to access healthier options in their neighbourhoods, Mr Kyle said.
In some areas, residents will receive vouchers to buy fruit and vegetables from the bus.
Researchers will measure how the diet and health of recipients change as a result of the initiative in order to predict the effect of it being rolled out across the country.
It follows the launch of the Government's 10-Year Health Plan, which last week included the announcement that supermarkets could be fined if they do not sell healthier food.
Other projects will assess the role of community food markets in areas of Glasgow with limited access to grocery stores, known as 'food deserts', surveying food pantry users to find out about other activities and support they would like to see on offer, such as cooking sessions or recipe boxes, and improving the nutritional content and take-up of free school meals.
Mr Kyle said: 'No one in this country should be left unable to access the healthy food they need – which is why interventions like the Queen of Greens are so important – and measuring their impact is so vital.
'These projects will draw on the power of research to actively explore the best ways to get healthy food into the mouths of those who need it, potentially having a transformational effect on people's lives, and fulfilling the missions set in our Plan for Change.'
Lucy Antal, director of Alchemic Kitchen CIC (Community Interest Company), who runs the Queen of Greens, said: 'We are very much looking forward to working on this new research project with all the team assembled by the University of Liverpool.
'It will be a great opportunity to trial an expansion into supporting social housing tenants to access fresh produce, and to have the health and social impact of this intervention measured and assessed. The Queen of Greens is for everyone, and the data produced will help support our future activity.'
Professor Alison Park, deputy executive chairwoman of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), said: 'Everyone should have access to healthy, nutritious food but we know the number of food insecure households across the UK is increasing.
'These innovative projects from across the UK – from Wales to Dundee, Nottingham to the Isle of Wight – will go a long way in helping us understand how to tackle food inequalities and what interventions really make a difference.'
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