But Change 4 Life’s Supermeals public health campaign is already being criticised
Families in England are being encouraged to eat healthily on the cheap with three supermarkets agreeing to offer discounts on products such as fruit, vegetables and fish.
The campaign, called Supermeals, is from the Government’s Change4Life initiative.
“The New Year is a good time to think about losing weight. The Supermeals campaign will give us all some great ideas for balanced meals on a budget,” said public health minister Anne Milton, reports the BBC.
Four million healthy recipe leaflets will be mailed to families already signed up to Change4Life.
Celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott has backed the campaign and helped create a cookbook full of healthy family meal recipes for under £5. His cooking tutorials will also be posted on the Change4Life website.
Asda, Co-op and Aldi are the big name supermarkets that have signed up to the campaign and will offer many discounted ingredients for healthy meals. These meals being promoted include vegetable soup, fish pie and sweet and sour chicken.
However, the campaign has been criticised by the Labour party who claim that ministers don’t take public health seriously.
“They’re calling this public health but it’s just glorified advertisement for big business. This is a government that doesn’t take its responsibility around public health seriously,” said Shadow public health minister Diane Abbott.
“Some areas in inner cities are fresh food deserts so families fall into eating takeaway chicken and chips,” Dianne added.
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