Supporting the Veg Power campaign to increase children’s daily vegetable intake

City Catering Southampton are joining the Eat Them To Defeat Them mission, once again, this year.

This initiative is backed by ITV and a number of well-known celebrities, who all have the same vision - to get children eating more vegetables.

The Veg Power campaign launches on the 28th February 2022 and runs for a total of 5 weeks. There’s lots happening, we have theme menus, social posts, schools have packs (full of classroom resources, plus easy ways to help get children talking about vegetables and all the benefits that come with them).

Theme Day ‘Veg Power’ Dishes

Our Menu Development Team have lovingly put the following veg-themed dishes together, with a different ‘veg of the week’, each week:

Week 1 – Carrot Week

We have carrot & parsnip flapjack, as ‘pudding of the day’ this week, to kick off the celebration of all things veggies. 

Week 2 – Pepper Week

We have veggie fajita pockets, served with a salad selection and coleslaw this week. 

Week 3 – Broccoli Week

We have Mauritian turkey, broccoli and coconut curry or as a vegetarian option, we have a Quorn recipe, both served with Afghani pilau rice and peas. Finished up with pineapple cake and nutmeg custard for dessert. This menu is also part of our City of Culture celebration, which we’re very much looking forward to!

Week 4 – Tomato Week

We have creamy tomato pasta, served with seasonal vegetables or a salad selection.

Week 5 – Pea Week

We have vegetable cakes, served with potatoes, seasonal vegetables, or a salad selection.  

Veg Power Packs for Schools

Veg Power have very kindly agreed to supply packs to any schools that have registered to take part in the campaign. These packs will contain the following:

·        Free downloadable assembly

·         Lesson plans, and inspiration packs

·         Bunting

·         Posters

·         Stickers

·         Reward charts for pupils

There’s lots to aid schools to get the very best out of the campaign, to enable them to engage and educate pupils of all ages.

Our Reasoning for Supporting the Campaign

The Veg Power campaign is something that we are very proud to be supporting, we want to do as much as we can, to help children make better food choices and to highlight the importance of a healthy balanced diet.

We want to give children the confidence to ‘try something new’ and hopefully that will have a knock-on effect on their peers. If they see their friend trying one of our ‘veg of the week’ dishes or puddings, they might be swayed to try it themselves. It’s small steps in the right direction, that’s why we have even more hidden vegetables on our school menu this year.

We’re always looking for ways to increase children’s vegetable consumption. For example, are Hidden Veg Bolognese has seven different types of veggies in the recipe, which is cooked from scratch in our school kitchens.

The switch to Meat-Free Wednesday has also allowed us to have even more vegetable dishes on the menu this term. Our Butternut Squash Mac n Cheese is a popular one this term. 

Cooking at Home

If this has inspired you to try some new vegetarian dishes, have a look at our Cook at Home page for our recipes. There are step-by-step videos too if you’re more of a visual person. We have a delicious vegetable fritter recipe, packed with veggies.

If you’re looking for ways of increasing your fruit and vegetable intake, have a read of my Blog, here.

Social Media

Keep your eyes peeled on our Facebook and Twitter social pages, for the latest updates on the campaign and photos from our kitchen teams of their amazing veggie displays! #VegPower #EatThemToDefeatThem