CHANGING the way food is represented in the high street could encourage more people to get their five a day, according to a report by the Royal Agricultural University.

In 2015, the RAU were commissioned by the National Farmers' Union to complete a study to determine the constraining and the enabling factors that influence the consumption of fruit and vegetables in the UK.

The study considered initiatives such as the ‘Five-A-Day’, ‘Change for Life’, and the ‘Eatwell Plate’ campaigns and the effect these had on the consumption of fruit and vegetables.

It also proposed solutions to increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables in the UK.

The team was led by Dr Louise Manning, a former a lecturer at the RAU, Dr Josie Kelly, Lecturer at Aston Business School and Sara Stanner, Science Director at the British Nutrition Foundation.

They considered steps to increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables, which involved: changing the presentation of food in restaurants, schools and on the high streets, including more fruit and veg in ready meals and providing more information when purchasing fruit and veg.

The report considers actions for the government, food service, retailers and the farming sector.

Dr Louise Manning said: “We already know we should be preparing, serving and requesting more fruit and vegetables in supermarkets and restaurants for ourselves and our children.”

“We often see eating as a chore rather than food and the nutrients it contains being what sustains us and our families.”