Households that may struggle to eat nutritious meals due to a lack of accessible healthy options are to receive government support through a number of new projects.
One such project is based in Liverpool, where researchers are investigating the factors that influence the diets of people living in social housing and creating a mapping tool to help direct a mobile greengrocer, the Queen of Greens, to visit areas where social housing residents have limited access to fresh, nutritious food.
The Queen of Greens bus has been bringing affordable fresh fruit and vegetables to communities across Liverpool and Knowsley since 2022 – the new research will expand and help target their route to ensure it reaches residents in social housing who may find it harder to access healthier options in their neighbourhoods.
In some areas, the project will also include the offer of fruit and vegetable vouchers, provided by the Alexandra Rose Charity, for residents to make purchases on the Queen of Greens. The researchers will measure how diet and health changes as a result and then use a computer model to predict the broader impacts on health and accessibility to healthy
This project in Liverpool is one of 6 receiving £8.5 million in government funding, through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), aimed at improving the accessibility of nutritious food and potentially tackling food waste, by making good food more available to people who need it.
“No one in this country should be left unable to access the healthy food they need, which is why interventions like the Queen of Greens are so important – and measuring their impact is so vital,” said Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle.
“These projects will draw on the power of research to actively explore the best ways to get healthy food into the mouths of those who need it, potentially having a transformational effect on people’s lives, and fulfilling the missions set in our Plan for Change,” he said.
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