Fresh Times – Edition 3, 2023
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Editor’s Note: Building Habits
As most of the Northern Hemisphere is returning to their homes and their workplaces after the summer holidays, this season’s fruits and vegetables campaign reminds us that habits and long-term commitments are what make all the difference. Through small changes in our day-to-day lives and daily wins, for instance, by exchanging one snack a day for a piece of fruit or choosing one new vegetable as the basis for a meal, we build healthy habits for ourselves and our families. In this edition of Fresh Times, you will find many useful tips on how to create such habits.
Belgium: Be Smart
The We’re Smart World started in 1989, and has a full schedule this year! Under the philosophy “Think Vegetables! Think Fruit!’, the network is this year starting an education programme for plant-based cooking, a competition on vegetable cooking between hotel schools in the EU, a TV programme set around vegetable meals, a new fruit and vegetable cookbook and much more. The ‘Think Vegetables! Think Fruit!’ philosophy is based on steps and tools that help you put fruits and vegetables at the centre of your meals in an easy way.
Global: Go bananas!
Celebrating bananas and Chiquita’s commitment to bananas the company launched a new campaign ‘It peels so good’. The campaign praises the quality, delicious taste, distinctiveness and iconic heritage of bananas and will include a variety of endeavours, both online and offline. Everything from social media campaigns to presence at key tourist sites to showcase the ease and availability of healthy on-the-go snacks. The website also contains useful nutrition information about bananas as well as tasty banana-based recipes. And why not take a few minutes and try your Chiquita knowledge in their online quiz?
UK: VegPower 2023 Wrap-up
The Eat Them To Defeat Them Campaign is wrapping up for 2023, and the evaluation shows that since its launch in 2019, it has achieved some impressive successes in increasing children’s consumption of fruits and vegetables. More than three-quarters of parents aware of the programme in their kid’s school reported that their child ate more, both in volume and in variety, vegetables as a direct result of the campaign. In 2023, the campaign was supported by large TV and media outlets as well as a range of retailers and food brands including Coop and Dole.
Europe: Long life challenge
Did you join the #longlifechallenge? You still can. All you have to do is eat at least five fruits or vegetables per day to compete for a better, healthier and longer life. That is what five Olympic athletes did as part of the collaborative campaign by Associations and organisations from Spain, France, Poland and on EU level. The challenge is open for anyone to join, and as the campaign itself states, eating five fruits and vegetables per day does not have to be an Olympic effort.
Spain: Sunny produce
The task of educating and showing people not only the health benefits but also the sustainability qualities of fresh fruits and vegetables has been done by APROA, HortiEspana and AREFLH. In their collaborative campaign CuteSolar they added the element of informing on the sustainability benefits of fresh produce grown in solar greenhouses. The campaign has run in Spain, Germany and Belgium and focuses on digital communication, boasting online games for kids but also in-person conferences.
Ireland: Get started!
Putting public health first, Ireland is embarking on a campaign aimed to support families to take the small, but necessary, steps to eat healthy and prevent childhood obesity, which in many cases leads to health problems also later in life. The campaign, accurately named ‘START’ comes from the understanding that running a family can be a busy task and so gives manageable advice and helps parents set small, daily goals. Because, as they themselves say: “It is not about perfect parenting but about achieving one daily win”.
Singapore: Panda Pau-Pau
Together with Clear Channel Singapore, Foodpanda’s well-known mascot Pau-Pau is helping out in displaying the great range of fresh fruits and vegetables available for home delivery in Singapore. Foodpanda is a company dealing with home delivery of groceries, and this campaign, by the name ‘CHILL: We got you fresh! aims to show what a well-stocked fridge would look like – full of fresh fruits and vegetables! The campaign targets working adults who prefer to cook their meals, but with the convenience of purchasing quality fresh produce on the go.