 For many parents it is simply down to money |
There's more than fresh fruit, veg and meat to the problem of getting the British public to eat more healthily. It is a complex issue that Jamie Oliver's project exposed... but addressing it may not be that easy?
It was one of the great TV images of the year... the mums from Rawmarsh in South Yorkshire smuggling burgers and pies through the railings to youngsters turned off by Jamie Oliver-style healthy school dinners.
But there is a lot more to healthy eating than school dinners.
The Yorkshire resort of Scarborough has just completed the first British experiment with food-mapping.
The project, run by Sure Start, the local Primary Care Trust, and other agencies, surveyed people in the most deprived areas of Scarborough and asked them about what they eat, and why.
The findings showed that most people thought they could eat a more healthy diet and put the blame on the cost of healthy food, the lack of local availability, a lack of time to prepare food and poor transport links.
All down to money
 'Fast' food may not be great food, but fresh may not be on the menu |
Single father Richard Wilson supports himself and two children on �112 a week, and says: "I'd like to eat healthily but it's a big struggle on that kind of money.
"I look at the fresh meat in the supermarkets and I'd love to buy it, but all I can afford is cheap offers in the freezer shops."
Another single parent, Kirsty McNicoll, says: "I find the practical side difficult. I don't have a car and finding the time to cook is hard when you've got a young one to look after.
"But since I've started thinking more about healthy eating, I've been making time by preparing decent meals at night when he's gone to sleep."
On the menu
The results of the survey are now being studied by local health officials.
Rachel Maw, from the local PCT, says: "The cost of healthy eating is one of the problems thrown up.
"There are a lot more cheap promotions on pizzas than you find on healthy food. Transport is another issue - people have difficulties going from housing estates to town trying to manoeuvre a buggy on to a bus and carry all their food.
"These are some of the issues that stop people eating a healthy diet."
Return of allotments?
 Meanwhile, down at the patch, volunteers get to work... |
Among those in the firing line are the major supermarkets, with claims from many residents that the growth of big stores has meant lots of local shops closing.
Greengrocer Harry Pattison has seen three of the family businesses close down after big supermarkets opened up.
"Once they opened there was just not enough trade, not enough money for small shops like ours - people go to a supermarket and buy everything there at one go, even though they're not getting as good a deal as local shops offer."
The project does not end with the survey.
The organisers are now persuading local people to start growing their own fruit and veg on allotments, and investigating whether they could develop a food-cooperative in the town and set up deliveries of fresh fruit and veg to estates without local grocers... watch this space (in the garden!)
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