Improve access to those in most need
Health and hospitals
Increase the uptake of Healthy Start Vouchers, Rose Vouchers or through other local initiatives.
Healthy Start is the UK’s food welfare scheme for pregnant women and infants and young children in low-income families, who are amongst the groups most at risk of being in food poverty. In Scotland the system has recently been revised and will be known as Best Start Foods from 2019. The Rose Vouchers Project helps parents with young children on low incomes to buy fresh fruit and vegetables while developing the skills and confidence to give their families the healthiest possible start.
Food partnerships and local authorities can take action to help increase uptake of Healthy Start vouchers or Rose Vouchers and the number of retailers who accept the vouchers and promote the scheme.
- Joint learning from a Healthy Start campaign (Brighton & Hove Food Partnership 2017)
- Making the Most of Healthy Start: A Practical Guide (First Steps Nutrition Trust 2014)
- Best Start Foods: details about the new Scottish Welfare Foods scheme
- Healthy Start Alliance: Promoting, protecting and advocating for the Healthy Start scheme in the UK
- First Steps Nutrition Trust: An independent public health nutrition charity that provides information and resources to support eating well from pre-conception to five years
- Alexandra Rose Charity: The Rose Vouchers scheme for Fruit & Veg Project helps parents with young children on low incomes to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, supplementing eligible families’ Healthy Start vouchers
- Food Power: Read more advice on how to improve the uptake of Healthy Start Vouchers
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Veg Cities is working with health and hospitals across the UK to help people grow, cook, sell, serve and save more vegetables.
