Fresh grub vouchers for needy Brits
FRESH fruit and veg is being prescribed to folk on low incomes to tackle food poverty.
The UK’s poorest neighbourhoods are getting weekly vouchers to spend on fresh groceries.
They are worth up to £8 a week, with an extra £2 for each child in a household as part of a £250,000 project.
The Bromley by Bow Centre in Tower Hamlets, east London, and the Beacon Project in Lambeth, south London, began trialling the scheme last month.
It also aims to boost health and stop people having to eat poor quality food because of rising costs.
Crisps
Asia, a single parent with three children from Tower Hamlets, said the support had made a “massive difference” to her family.
Speaking about the cost-of-living crisis, she said: “How do you tell your kids they are not allowed to eat fruit? Crisps and chocolate were cheaper.
“It seemed we were constantly falling ill and feeling listless.”
Dr Chi-Chi Ekhator, the GP lead at the Beacon Project, said the scheme would make “a huge difference”.
Prof Sam Everington, a GP in Bromley-by-Bow and Tower Hamlets NHS clinical commissioning group chairman, added: “Fruit and veg should be part of every prescription.”
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