50 Cork families in need partaking of Tesco’s Stronger Start programme

AROUND 50 Cork families are in the process of receiving free, healthy, meal packages as part of a new pilot scheme by Tesco Ireland.

The packages are being delivered as part of the store’s new Stronger Starts programme, which aims to provide nutritious meals to thousands of children in need across Ireland.

Originally launched in November, the programme had aimed to hand out nutritious ingredients to over 120,000 families, the equivalent of 1,000 families per week, by the end of February.

The free packages contain a variety of vegetables and fruit, such as potatoes, carrots, onions and apples, to help families prepare healthy meals at home.

The packages were provided in partnership with Good Grub, a non-profit initiative that has been delivering nutritious parcels to the families of a number of DEIS school children around Ireland since the beginning of the pandemic.

To select the recipients, home school community liaison officers in over 40 DEIS schools identified families who may have needed supplemental support at home this winter.

Tesco has also released a video series demonstrating healthy ingredients and recipes as part of the programme.

“We’re delighted that Tesco has come on board to help us provide nutritious packs of healthy food going into the homes that need them, complementing the Government and food provision programmes already in place in schools,” said Good Grub co-founder Denis O’Reilly.

“This will make a huge difference to so many people that have been affected by increased food insecurity because of the pandemic.”

Kari Daniels, Tesco Ireland CEO, added: “Through our Tesco stores nationwide we wanted to help children and their families who need it to have access to healthy and nutritious food and help them have a stronger start in life.

“We are delighted to partner with the team at the Good Grub Initiative on the Stronger Starts programme to do this and we hope together we can make a real difference.”

Once the pilot is complete this month, Tesco and the Good Grub Initiative will review and refine the programme with the aim of reaching more children and families across Cork and further afield.