Vegi-Tabe Life Project
Tokyo (Adachi City)
Vegi-Tabe Life Project
Tokyo (Adachi City)
Initiated in 2013, the Vegi-tabe Life (or Eat More Vegetables) Project in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward aims to improve residents' health by promoting vegetable consumption. More than 900 food businesses are participating in the project, providing vegetables before the main dish or adding vegetable-rich dishes (containing at least 120 grams of vegetables) to the menu. The project has also worked with supermarkets to sell vegetables in smaller quantities at cheaper prices, making them affordable to low-income individuals, such as students.The overall plan of the Vegi-tabe Life Project, a collaboration between the ward, the University of Tokyo, and local food businesses, supports residents in “becoming healthy just by living here.” The OECD found that “the programme had a considerable impact. Vegetable consumption in both children and adults increased – notably in both high and low education families. Men and women aged 30 ate 69.1g and 23.6g more vegetables per day respectively, in 2016 compared to 2014.”
City of Tokyo’s Adachi Ward
University of Tokyo
Local food businesses and supermarkets
The Vegi-tabe Life Project is aligned with promoting the Planetary Health Diet for city residents.
KPIs:
Number of participating food businesses and supermarkets
Average vegetable consumption per resident
“Punishing messages do not work,” says Dr. Naoki Kondo, Associate Professor of Social Epidemiology at the University of Tokyo. “Rather, eating vegetables in a fun atmosphere is more important.”
Researchers on the project would like to track vegetable consumption over the long-term. Additionally, the project can be scaled to other wards and cities around the world.
For more information contact: Tia Schwab at tschwab@c40.org