NZ to celebrate inaugural World Day of Fruit and Vegetables
New Zealand’s leader in this field, 5+ A Day, have joined forces with 23 other countries to celebrate the first-ever World Day of Fruit and Vegetables on Friday 18th October.
To celebrate, 5+ A Day is encouraging all New Zealanders to add an extra serving of fresh fruit or vegetables to their day. “We are seeing a great deal of ground swell internationally for the promotion of fruit and vegetables for health and well-being,” says 5+ A Day nutritionist, Bronwen Anderson. “It started here when the World Health Organisation supported us in the formation of the International Fruit and Vegetable Alliance (IFAVA) and has grown over the years to see the emergence of, and partnership with, the International Alliance of Associations and Movements – 5aday (AIAM5), a predominantly South American organisation.”
Anderson attended an international conference in Budapest recently where IFAVA and AIAM5 discussed best practices for 5aday programmes and global initiatives to ensure fruit and vegetable consumption stayed on national health agendas. “The evidence for the positive effect of fresh fruit and vegetables in health is irrefutable,” says Anderson. “Increasing the number of daily servings can help impact the risk of a number of non-communicable diseases. It is a simple step that individuals can make to improve their health and one that governments throughout the world should promote through health policy.”
“It would be wonderful if businesses got on board too and supplied all their staff with a piece of fruit or vegetable on this day,” Anderson says.
Source: business.scoop.co.nz
