Families & Food

44% of parents want help to get their family eating together more frequently

Why families and food?

The initiative aims to support families to eat together more frequently as a recent survey found 44% of parents wanted help to achieve this (Ref = You Gov).
The benefits of family mealtimes extend beyond nutrition and dietary health to improved literacy and performance at school and improved family dynamics (add refs). And interestingly while the appetite for families to eat together is high, in reality there is a wide gap between desired and actual behaviour with 1 in 4 UK households never sharing an evening meal or doing so just once a week. (add ref)

Supporters

The following individuals and organisations will be supporting Veg Power with this initiative.:

Ali Morpeth RNutr

Co-Founder Planeatry Alliance

Ali Morpeth is an award-winning Registered Public Health Nutritionist (RNutr) working at the intersection of health + sustainability. With experience spanning policy, NGOs, academia, and corporate strategy, she is focused on driving systemic change across the food system.

Ali is the Co-Founder of Planetary Alliance, shaping a better food future for people and planet. She serves as a Board Member of ReThink Food, an advisor to leading NGOs, and an Affiliate on major food systems initiatives, including FixOurFood and AgriFood Network+. She is also recognised as a World Health Organisation health influencer.

Nilani Sritharan RNutr

Group Head of Healthy & Sustainable Diets, Sainsbury’s Ltd

Nilani Sritharan is a Registered Nutritionist with over 20 years’ experience of leading health strategies for the food industry. She has held a variety of roles in nutrition, regulatory and external affairs for Unilever, Nestle and then a cereals Joint Venture, working at a national (UK), regional (Asia/Oceania, EU) and global level.

Since 2018, Nilani has led a team of nutritionists for Sainsbury’s, the UK’s second largest food retailer, with a particular focus on helping everyone to eat better whilst driving for food systems transformation. Nilani has driven a series of initiatives to adapt food environments, support product reformulations and use loyalty card data to help unlock opportunities to drive healthier sales. She also works in partnership with the academic community, policymakers and other food system stakeholders to independently evaluate initiatives and as a member of the Food Data Transparency Partnership for Health to improve data transparency and reporting.

Beyond her role at Sainsbury’s, Nilani is an Independent Advisor for Nesta (an innovation think tank) and a Board Trustee for Greater Change (a charity tackling homelessness through cash-first initiatives). She also regularly mentors purpose-driven mid-career nutritionists and individuals from diverse communities.

Orla Hugueniot

Public Health Specialist

Orla has 25 years in public health promotion including major government campaigns such as Start for Life, Change4Life and Better Health. She is a registered Public Health nutritionist, marketeer and government spokesperson on nutrition.

Ben Ebbrell

Founder & Chef, Sorted Foods

Ben is one of the co-founders of Sorted Food. A chef, public speaker and educator. With a passion for driving positive change across a digital generation, it’s entertainment and inspiration first and foremost… Accompanied by good levels of reliable accidental education. Food and drink brings people together, millions in an engaged community in the case of Sorted Food, and the conversation about what, where, how and why is the catalyst.

Sue Couter

Campaigns, Healthy and Sustainable Diets, Tesco

Sue has been at Tesco for nearly 12 years leading a mixture of food education, healthy and sustainable diets campaigns and community engagement programmes and partnerships, working with the UK’s leading food and health charities including Diabetes UK, the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, the British Nutrition Foundation and Jamie Oliver Group. Sue also holds professional cookery qualifications from London’s Westminster Kingsway College and is part of the Great Taste Awards judging team.

Helen Law

Behaviour and Market Research Expert

Helen is a behaviour and market researcher with over 30 years experience spanning client-side roles, advertising agencies, and leading market research firms. She specialises in providing behavioural, brand and communications insight to help guide decision-making and maximise the effectiveness of behavioural interventions and communications.

Dr Lucy Porter

Lecturer, Centre for Behaviour Change, University College London

Dr Lucy Porter’s expertise lies in developing and evaluating behaviour change interventions for public health, with a primary interest in eating behaviours. Her PhD (University of Exeter) focused on developing and refining an intervention to reduce children’s intake of high fat/salt/sugar foods, while her postdoctoral research (University of Loughborough) focused on understanding and addressing the barriers to caregivers offering vegetables to their children. She is currently a Lecturer at the UCL Centre for Behaviour Change (CBC), where she also leads on the CBC’s bespoke training and consultancy activities. She also holds a Senior Research Fellow with Behavioural Research UK (BR-UK). She previously worked as a Principal Behavioural & Social Scientist at Public Health England and the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities where she worked on topics including diet and obesity, sexual and reproductive health, and alcohol harms reduction.

Dr Hannah White

Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Loughborough University

Dr Hannah White is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Loughborough University. Hannah’s research area focuses on disordered eating and mental health among young people. Most of Hannah’s research is family-based, focusing on interactions and family contexts, with particular expertise in family mealtimes. Her PhD explored aspects of family mealtimes in relation to adolescent and maternal psychopathology. She is a mixed-methods researcher with 15 years’ experience of conducting eating-focused research with adolescents, young adults and parents within both community and clinical groups. Her research helps to promote understanding of the different emotions and experiences related to mealtimes, and the different ways families interact in relation to eating, body shape and weight and physical activity.

Charlotte Stirling-Reed RNutr

Baby & Child Nutrition Expert, Author and Influencer

Charlotte Stirling-Reed is the UK’s leading baby and child nutritionist, a multi-Sunday Times best-selling author, and founder of SR Nutrition. With a first-class honours degree in Nutrition and Human Biology and a postgraduate degree in Nutrition and Public Health, she began her career in the NHS before specialising in maternal, baby, and child nutrition.

Charlotte’s bestselling books, including How to Wean Your Baby, How to Feed Your Family, and How to Feed Your Toddler, have become trusted resources for families navigating the challenges of feeding children. Her evidence-based, practical approach has earned widespread praise, with her books celebrated for being accessible, informative, and rooted in the latest research.

In addition to her publishing success, Charlotte collaborates with leading brands such as Pampers, Little Dish, Tommee Tippee, Bugaboo, Stokke, Whole Earth, and Arla. Her expertise is frequently sought by top media outlets, including The Telegraph, The Guardian, Women’s Health, Hello Magazine and BabyCentre. Charlotte has appeared on major UK television programmes, including BBC’s Food: Truth or Scare and Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast. She also partnered with Joe Wicks on his Wean in 15 campaign and consulted on his bestselling book.

Charlotte supports thousands of families through her books, social media platforms, and consultancy, solidifying her reputation as one of the most trusted voices in child nutrition today.

Louise Burke

Managing Editor, Netmums

Louise is the Editorial Director of the UK’s influential online parenting community Netmums which has supported millions of families every day since 2000.

Also a mum of three young children, Louise is well versed in the highs and lows of parenting – including family health and feeding children. The Netmums parent community often voice the challenges when it comes to accessing and affording healthy meals for their family. As well as listening to our audience, we work with food experts, retailers and organisations to understand the support and advice modern families need to make better choices for a healthy future and to enjoy parenthood.

Background – two decades experience as a journalist and editor on UK nationals and women’s lifestyle consumer media.

Elisha Hill

Health and Sustainable Diets Associate at IGD

Elisha works in IGD’s Social Impact (Health) team, where she collaborates closely with industry partners and contributes to the Behaviour Change Trial Programme. Her focus is on making healthy, sustainable diets accessible to all. With a Master’s degree in Obesity and Clinical Nutrition from University College London, she brings a deep understanding of the complex relationship between nutrition and health, with particular expertise in addressing obesity.

Vhari Russell

The Food Marketing Experts

I am a lifelong foodie, who loves working in the food industry, Founder of the Food Marketing Experts (a full-service agency), and founder of Grub Club Events (a b2b food networking group) and charity Creating Natures Corridors.

I am passionate about helping producers get their products on retailers’ shelves and getting their products the sales, profile, and coverage they deserve.

Ashleigh Simpson

Diverse Nutrition Association

Nessie Weschlinger

Food Entrepreneur & Cooking with Kids founder

Nessie Welschinger, a Singaporean-Egyptian entrepreneur, is the founder of the award-winning Chelsea Cake Company, one of London’s leading bespoke cake designers.

Her career began in investment banking, where she honed her strategic and analytical skills over a decade. These abilities later became the foundation for her success in transforming a passion for food into an internationally recognised brand.

Nessie’s creations have become synonymous with excellence, serving a global clientele that includes celebrities, royalty, and five-star hotels such as Claridge’s and The Ritz. Among her career highlights is being entrusted to create the 90th birthday cake for the late Queen Elizabeth II, an honour that underscores her unparalleled expertise and attention to detail.

In addition to her business acumen, Nessie is a passionate advocate for family nutrition and food education. Her appearance on Bake Off: The Professionals showcased her talent to millions and solidified her influence within the food industry. She has since expanded her reach, conducting school workshops and community events to emphasise the importance of balanced diets and engaging children in the kitchen.

Through her platform, Cooking With Kids, Nessie empowers families to reconnect over meals, providing practical tools and inspiration to make cooking accessible and enjoyable for all. Her vision aligns with modern health priorities, focusing on how family mealtimes can drive better nutrition, stronger relationships, and healthier futures.

David Rex

RD, Specialist Dietitian for Highland Council

Dr Clare Holley PhD, FHEA

Clare is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Loughborough University. Her research expertise is around children’s eating behaviour, with a focus on how we can promote healthy eating behaviours and reduce unhealthy eating behaviours. She has a particular passion for all things Veg, and has been researching effective ways of increasing children’s vegetable consumption for 10 years.

Dr Glenys Jones

Glenys is a Registered Nutritionist (RNutr) specialising in nutrition and health communications. She is experienced in public health and sports nutrition, and has a degree in nutrition science, a Masters in sports physiology and a PhD in nutrition, health and performance. She is the Deputy Chief Executive and Communications Manager for the Association for Nutrition, which is the independent regulator for nutritionists recognised by the NHS, Public Health England, Wales and Scotland, plus many employers.

Tom Firth

Tom is Managing Director of M&C Saatchi in London, the world’s largest independent communications group. He leads the agency’s work with consumer, corporate and public sector organisations to find innovative and creative solutions to complex problems. This see’s the agency tackle issues in areas such as health and wellbeing, food and diet, education and skills, online safety and the energy transition. Tom also Chairs the IPA’s Sustainability Action Group which promotes regenerative principles within the marketing and communications industry and supports agencies in their efforts to transform.