Bringing the nation together to “Veg Out” in July 2020 and increase daily vegetable intake to at least five portions.

30 day challenge to consume at least 5 portions of veggies a day

One recipe per day for 30 days, will teach you a new way of incorporating more vegetables into your daily meals, which in the long term will increase your overall health. The plan includes shopping lists to help make your weekly preparation quick and easy.

Sarah Ann Macklin will be on the journey with you everyday, sharing and posting the recipes through her social media channels as well as the Be Well Collective's. Join in, share with friends and let's make vegetables fun again.

“In the UK only 31% of the population are consuming the recommended 5 a day.”

National Diet and Nutrition Survey

Why Vegetables?

In the UK only 31% of the population are consuming the recommended 5 a day (National Diet and Nutrition Survey, 2020) therefore, we want to provide a fun and easy way to encourage and engage the British public to include more vegetables into their diets. Evidence shows there are significant health benefits to consuming at least 5 portions of a variety of vegetables every day. Vegetables are packed full of micronutrients, phytonutrients and fibre which are essential to nourish the body and mind. They are versatile, delicious and cheap. 

Non communicable diseases (NCDs) are the biggest burden of mortality in the UK health system and worldwide. Increasing fruit and vegetables as part of a daily diet has been found to reduce the risk of some NDC’s worldwide including cardiovascular disease and some cancers, as well as helping to prevent weight gain and reduce the risk of obesity, an independent risk factor for NCDs (World Health Organisation, 2019).

“Four million people die globally due to a lack of fruit and vegetables. Let's put a stop to this and VEG OUT!”

Sarah Ann Macklin

Cost

It is a common misconception that healthy eating is expensive. We want to share the message that healthy eating can be done on a budget. Our recipes include cost effective produce such as canned produce such as tomatoes and beans, frozen fruit and veg. These products help to keep the cost of meals low whilst ensuring you are not sacrificing on nutritional value and flavour.

Meals are based around whole food, plant proteins including beans and legumes which are cheap to buy in comparison to meat and fish. They also store for longer which means that waste is reduced.

Through encouraging the reduction of food waste by planning meals ahead, we incorporate leftover ingredients in our recipes throughout the week and provide tips and tricks to keep food fresh. This all helps to prevent food waste and the associated costs.

Accessibility

Ingredients included in our recipes are uncomplicated and can be purchased from regular supermarkets across the UK. We provide options in recipes and guidance to help you swap out ingredients depending on the availability to you.

The recipes are easy to follow and take between 15-30 minutes to create. We have used easy to prepare ingrediants such as microwaveable rice and grains as these are quick and easy to prepare. However, if you cooking on a budget we would recommend to buy rice and grains in larger packs and cook portions as recommended on the packaging, as this is a more cost effective option.