Leading chef calls for government to commission vegetable advertising fund

[DCUK NewsBot]

A leading English chef and campaigner has called for the government to commission a dedicated vegetable advertising fund. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who is best known for hosting River Cottage on Channel 4, believes this is the best way to compete with the "relentless" marketing of junk food. Campaigners have long sought for measures to be introduced restricting junk food advertising to help reduce rising rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Fearnley-Whittingstall says that by spending more money on the marketing of vegetables, consumers will be helped into making healthy food choices. He has teamed up with the Food Foundation think tank's Peas Please initiative to launch an advert to be displayed in over 5,000 locations across the UK, including thousands of primary and secondary school canteens across the UK. The winning ad was chosen by children following a competition among design agencies and students. Roughly £296 million is spent each year in the UK on confectionary, such as snacks and soft drinks, but only 5% of that total is spent marketing vegetables. Fearnley-Whittingstall believes this figure "urgently needs addressing" to steer people towards healthier food choices. "Unlike all the junk food and confectionery we are relentlessly sold every day, our delicious vegetables are not 'owned' by massive global brands so they don't get the marketing and advertising clout they deserve," he said. "Having a pooled marketing budget from retailers, producers and government is a brilliant idea. It means we can get top agencies behind the marketing of veg, which will drive up demand and boost consumption." Eating a healthy, low carb diet rich in real foods is pivotal not just to ensure good food intake, but to improve your health. Visit our award-winning Low Carb Program for more information on how a low carb diet high in vegetables can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and even put type 2 diabetes into remission.

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[NicoleC1971]

I love this! In the US cigarette companies gave up advertising cigarettes on TV when a law forced them to have to allocate an equal amount of money to advertising the health hazards of smoking.
If only the mainstream nutritionists could concede that sugar and highly processed carbs are harmful to a majority of the population or just that sugar (fructose) is toxic when ingested in the ways we do it now and over a number of years, then we might be able to persuade food manufacturers to promote healthy whole foods to balance things out.
The food industry is compelled to defend its products and is enabled in so doing by the mainstream nutritional scientists (many of whom have food industry connections) who stick to the Sugar is just empty calories line. I know its very hard to prove that sugar is toxic just as it was hard to prove that cigarettes cause lung cancer so it makes great sense to just promote the hell out of veggies without having to explicitly state the harms of processed foods (unless Hugh starts making broccoli fudge!)