One-in-three Irish families now growing fruit and veg at home

The revelation came as a major new study on Irish family diets revealed that 80pc of Irish children now eat some fruit and vegetables daily with 63pc achieving their recommended daily dose.

The study - conducted for supermarket giant SuperValu with Grow It Yourself (GIY) - also found that almost 90pc of Irish families indicated they would like to be able to grow food at home.

Of the 33pc-plus of families who grow food themselves, 88pc do so in their own garden.

Even the absence of a garden is not a limiting factor for some families in urban areas as 4pc of respondents revealed that they use their balcony for growing purposes.

Remarkably, 55pc of schoolchildren indicated that they have successfully grown food in the classroom or school setting.

More than 90pc of children surveyed said they believed it was very important to learn how to grow their own fresh food given future global challenges.

An overwhelming majority of parents consulted in the study (94pc) believed that having children learn how to grow food in a school setting was teaching them a life skill.

The IPSOS Behaviour and Attitudes study was conducted across 465 children aged between five and 12 years.

It also consulted 323 parents who had children within the specified age range.

An overwhelming number of parents said they believed that having their children learn how to grow fresh food would have a positive impact on their dietary choices - and would also help reduce food waste in the long-term.

The research also showed that nine in ten parents said they purchased their fruit and vegetables at the supermarket rather than a local market or a specialist shop.

Some 88pc of parents agree that supermarkets can play an important role in teaching children about the importance of eating fresh, seasonal, local fruit and vegetables.

SuperValu backs GIY's GROW programme which encourages children to learn how to grow fresh fruit and vegetables.

The programme received a major boost two years ago when Prince Charles (now King Charles III) insisted on visiting a GIY facility in Waterford during his Irish visit.

Over 100,000 children will receive food growing skills as part of the Irish programme.

SuperValu marketing director Ray Kelly said the results of the study were hugely encouraging.

"Our research shows that there are many benefits to growing your own food – helping children to understand where food comes from as well as increasing the likelihood of consumption, all while being cost-effective and good for our environment," he said.

"We are delighted to bring the GIY GrowBoxes back in store to SuperValu for another year which will help families grow their own fruit and vegetables this spring.”

GIY founder Michael Kelly said showing children the importance of food growing was absolutely critical.

“Our research shows the importance of growing food with children, whether at home or in school, and the positive impact this can have on their understanding and consumption of fruit and vegetables," he said.

"It is inspiring to note that just over half of parents are reporting that their children are growing food at school, with almost nine in 10 parents in support of this activity in schools.

"This is something we have been working hard to deliver at national schools with the SuperValu team, as food growing is not on the curriculum, nor is it funded.

"I very much hope that through the delivery of food-growing knowledge at a young age and being able to empower children with a food-growing life skill we can improve the number of families who are growing food at home in the future, with a new generation of knowledgeable food growers.”