A HEALTH campaign is calling on people to become national trailblazers by asking for an extra portion of vegetables every day.

Brighton and Hove has pledged to become a pioneer Veg City in the hope its example will be followed across the county.

The Peas Please drive is a national scheme to encourage more people to eat healthily by simply increasing the amount of vegetables they consume.

Brighton and Hove City Council deputy leader Gill Mitchell and the city’s food partnership director Vic Borrill made the pledge on behalf of residents at a ceremony this week.

Cllr Mitchell said: “We are extremely proud to be making this commitment to become a Veg City.

“We will work with the food partnership and others in the city to explore exciting and innovative ways to improve access to fresh, good, healthy food.

“Embedding ‘Veg City’ in the heart of our five year food strategy will also build on the success of our Sugar Smart campaign and further improve the health of our residents.”

Mrs Borrill said: “We are excited to have been chosen to be one of the pioneer cities to help everyone in Brighton and Hove eat more veg.

“We’re looking forward to working with chefs and caterers to help make veg the star of the plate.”

The campaigning will be targeting individuals and organisations across the city, ranging from nurseries and schools to cafes, restaurants and food producers and suppliers.

The Veg City drive is backed by a host of influential food experts and celebrities including TV’s Doctor in the House Rangan Chatterjee and chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Other ideas for the three year campaign include asking food manufacturers to include more veg in their products.

This includes having bigger vegetable portions in a ready- meal.

An advertising drive will also be aimed at making vegetables more appealing to children.

Brighton and Hove is one of only a handful of cities pledging to become a pioneer Veg

City.

The Primary School Meals Service provides lunch for every primary school in the city.

It aims to lead the way by committing to increase consumption of vegetables by the children, rather than just increasing the number of portions of vegetables available.

It will also be trialling raw veg as well as cooked on the new menu.