Peas Please: Making a pledge for more veg

Abstract

Research suggests that eating vegetables benefits both human health and the environment. However, in the UK, very few people are eating enough vegetables. This is contributing to the global burden of diet-related disease and associated costs, as well as undermining the possibility of a sustainable UK food system. The Peas Please initiative was launched in 2017 to encourage organisations and businesses across the food system to pledge their commitment to helping the British public increase their vegetable consumption. Since the implementation of the Peas Please initiative 95 organisations have pledged to support Peas Please and, at the time of writing, an additional 89.9 million portions of vegetables have been grown, served and sold by pledgers. This article describes the Peas Please initiative and its rationale, highlights some of the key outcomes of the programme, and outlines next steps for increasing commitment to the programme.