Wicklow DEIS school benefits from Tesco healthy meals programme

Proudly ‘marking the millionth’, Tesco Ireland has announced that the Stronger Starts programme has provided one million free, healthy and nutritious meals to primary school children and families, including St. John’s SNS in Arklow.

Stronger Starts is an innovative community support programme from Tesco that helps to build thriving communities nationwide by providing children in 117 DEIS schools across Ireland with these nutritious food packs.

St. John’s SNS is currently benefiting from the programme, receiving packs containing fresh apples, onions, potatoes, and carrots every week.

Over 4.5 million pieces of fruit and vegetables have been included in the one million meals Stronger Starts have provided since the programme began in late 2021.

It’s hard to envision the enormity of marking a millionth, but all that fruit and veg would fill each seat in the Aviva Stadium 19 times over and would be 25 times the number of columns that make up the Giant’s Causeway.

Stronger Starts began as a pilot programme in partnership with The Good Grub Initiative in November 2021, providing 1,000 food parcels per week to children across 40 DEIS schools. The number of weekly packs has since tripled to 3,000 across 117 DEIS schools, with Tesco setting the ambitious goal of delivering one million meals by May 2023.

The programme is supported by long-standing local suppliers Country Crest, Keelings and Dole, and complements existing government programmes that also provide food support to schoolchildren and their families nationwide.

Speaking about the initiative, Rosemary Garth, Tesco Ireland Communications Director said: “We are honoured to have delivered one million meals to children and families in need across Ireland, with the help of our fantastic suppliers, partners and colleagues.

“Children need to be fed to enable concentration at school, and from speaking to school principals and home school liaison officers, we know the difference Stronger Starts is making in support of that, and for children’s health, more broadly.”

Tesco has been appointed one of Ireland’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) champions for 2023-2024 by Minister Eamon Ryan.

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