An Olympic boxing champion has helped launch what is believed to be the UK's first frozen veggie foodbank in Hackney.
Olympian Nicola Adams OBE, who became the first female boxer to win gold at the Olympics in London 2012, joined plant-based food company Strong Roots and online food donation platform, Bankuet, in the fight against vegetable poverty today.
Donning boxing gloves, Nicola met with Bankuet volunteers ahead of the foodbank's official launch on Friday (January 29).
She shared her passion for the health benefits of fruit and vegetables as a regular addition to everyone's diet and her own experiences growing up with food instability.
Nicola said she was "proud" to be part of the initiative: "I understand first-hand the struggle and the sacrifices made by families just to put food on the table.
"It’s hard enough just having enough food to eat, let alone being able to access good, nutritious food. Veg should be accessible to all, whatever your personal circumstances, because it is fundamental to our health."
Strong Roots' mission to end veg poverty follows its own research conducted by pollsters Explain The Market this year.
The study revealed one in four Britons from lower-income households consider themselves to be in vegetable poverty.
London had higher levels than anywhere else in the country, with two in five Londoners from lower-income households unable to access or afford the government's recommended five-a-day of fruit and veg.
The Frozen Veggie Food Bank will operate over four consecutive weekends at a time of year when food insecurity is at its highest and will hand out supplies of Strong Roots plant-based products and frozen veg, plus other food essentials.
It will act as an overspill foodbank supporting users from Bow Foodbank and Bethnal Green Foodbank, which are not able to accommodate freezers.
However, people can turn up on the day, every Friday and Saturday in February, to be served without a referral from a foodbank.
It is located at Unit 11, Bohemia Place, Mare Street, London, E8 1DU and will launch on January 29.
Visit StrongRoots.com to find out more and about how to get involved.
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