Words by Smiley Team
A youth-led movement called Bite Back 2030 is working to ensure that every young person has access to healthy, nutritious food.
Bite Back 2030 is making sure young people know the truth about how the food system is actually designed - and crucially, how it can be redesigned to put young people’s health first.
They’re working to build a powerful alliance, with a movement of young people who can get the big players in business and government to listen, and act on people’s right to health. Shockingly, their new report exposes how big food businesses are manipulating young people into believing their products are healthy, when in fact they’re packed full of salt, sugar or fat.
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Claims such as “no added sugar”, “contains fruit and veg”, or “high in fibre” make us think food is healthy - but they’re scarily effective. Half of teenagers say this type of claim makes them more likely to splurge, yet many of these products are not honest about what is really inside.
Bite Back is also focusing on the provision of free school meals, given that having healthy food at school significantly improves young people’s chances of performing well in class - and were infamously supported by footballer Marcus Rashford, after their petition blew up into a national campaign.
School is also the only place where it’s possible to be absolutely certain that all children, no matter where they live, are getting a decent meal. Through their #SpillTheBeans campaign, they want the government to ensure that this is a reality.
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They have a National Youth Board, headed up by 18-year-old Christina Adane, and 16-year-old Sharma, alongside 15 other activists who are all pushing for the UK government to keep their promise.
Christina said: “It’s hard for young people to eat healthy because even if something is packaged nicely and presented as a healthy option, it’s still just as high in sugar as what would typically be seen as unhealthy foods.”
You can find out more about Bite Back’s work on their website.
