Rotterdam joins program offering free vegetables for babies
Rotterdam has become the 17th Dutch municipality to offer the Baby Groente Tas (Baby Vegetable Bag), a program providing families with infants aged four to six months a free eight-week supply of organic vegetables and recipes for both babies and parents, according to NOS. Other participating cities include Leiden, The Hague, Apeldoorn, and Amsterdam.
Rotterdam is piloting the Baby Groente Tas program in Delfshaven, Schiebroek, Oud-Charlois, and Wielewaal. Participation is voluntary and open to all young parents.
Since its launch, the initiative has reached over 7,000 families, distributing around 58,000 vegetable bags, according to Floor Volker, founder of the project. “We have already reached over 7,000 families and distributed around 58,000 bags. The goal is for the Baby Groente Tas, just like the public library, to become a free basic provision for all young parents in the Netherlands,” she told NOS.
“Vegetables protect us against disease, but we eat too few,” Volker explained to NOS. “The baby stage is the ideal time to teach your child to eat vegetables. Everything a child tastes between four and twelve months is stored on their ‘hard drive.’ That’s what they will enjoy later.”
More than 100 Rotterdam families have signed up. Yvonne van Duijnhoven, director of GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond, told NOS, “We have noticed in municipalities that have already started that it works very well to introduce babies to vegetables. It clearly meets a need. The barriers have been kept as low as possible, and parents are very enthusiastic so far.”
Marije Verwijs, health expert at the Voedingscentrum (Nutrition Center), told NOS, “The older children get, the more they encounter unhealthy snacks and soft drinks. Parents therefore have less influence over time. The more a child enjoys and becomes accustomed to different foods at a young age, the better."
