More than 95% of schools who have taken part in Veg Power’s 2024 Eat Them to Defeat Them campaign say it has been a success with students, so much so that it will be returning in March 2025.
Eat Them to Defeat Them is one of the few initiatives undertaken by an organization in any country that has moved the needle positively on vegetable consumption. Backed by numerous celebrities and businesses, the ad campaigns and messages alone have resonated strongly with students and parents over the past six years.
In fact, a recent survey shows that nearly 90% of parents and their kids say they are eating more veg because of the programmes in their schools.
“We are thrilled with these evaluation results,” says Dan Parker, CEO of Veg Power. “Not only are we making much-needed positive steps towards improving children’s dietary health in the UK, children, teachers and catering teams are enjoying the experience and can see the benefit of repeat participation. I’ve really enjoyed hearing how schools and catering teams have implemented the campaign this year with heaps of creativity and how repeat participation is leading to greater success. We’d love for all children across the UK to participate in Eat Them to Defeat Them next year.“
Not only are they consuming more veg, some 75% of them say their are talking more about it and finishing their helpings at meal time. Schools say they are actually seeing additional veg portions in about 40% of lunches.
There are added benefits to eating more veg in schools as part of the campaign beyond just health and nutrition. Each school gets decorations for its dining hall, posters and rolls of stickers to chart student success along with digital assets that can be downloaded to suit the activities they were implementing including lesson and assembly plans.
An astounding 93% of teachers said they used those handouts.
According to data from Veg Power and iTV, the campaign reached 620,000 kids from 2,375 primary and special schools this year. Its reach since 2018 has been 1.7m children from over 5,000 schools.
Schools can register their interest on Veg Power’s partner platform.
