Veg Power has launched its Feel the Fibre campaign this week to help close the nation’s fibre gap by encouraging healthy sources of fibre including beans and pulses.
The campaign, which launched today, also includes a Discover Beans nationwide schools programme involving thousands of children and a significant social media campaign to extend the reach to parents and into homes.
The UK currently has a huge ‘fibre gap’, with 86% of primary-aged children not meeting their 20g daily fibre target despite its many benefits to people’s gut, immune, digestive and heart health, said the charity.
It comes as new data from Veg Power revealed only 46% of parents recognised that their child needed to eat more fibre, which it said showed increased awareness and education was needed.
The research also found that most (64%) parents say their child rarely eats beans or pulses, while 43% said their child was resistant to any meals which visibly contain beans.
However, 66% of parents would like their family to eat more beans and pulses – although 48% were unsure how to include more in their meals.
The Discover Beans schools programme aims to transform schools’, parents’ and children’s perceptions of beans by “positioning them as a healthy, convenient and versatile way to add more fibre to diets, while being budget-friendly for cash-strapped families”.
Schools will be provided with a toolkit of materials and resources including lesson plans, activities and assembly presentations.
The campaign will also support the transition to the government’s new school food standards, which include a number of updates to increase the fibre content of school food.
The campaign will work with partners including Leiths Education, which is running bean cookalongs, and Pro Veg, which is providing bean-based recipes to parents and caterers.
It will also be supported by media partners including Good Food, First News and Netmums, with the latter partnering on a podcast miniseries, Family Food Made Easy, sponsored by Sainsbury’s.
The podcast will help families “understand why fibre matters, how to build more fibre-rich foods into everyday family meals and snacks, and support bean acceptance in school meals”.
“To truly shift British food culture, our goal must be turning beans and pulses into everyday dietary staples rather than a short-lived trend,” said Dan Parker, CEO of Veg Power. “We have united a diverse coalition of businesses, organisations, and individuals from every corner of the food system to achieve this.
“Rather than relying on a flashy advertising blitz, our strategy focuses on aligning the entire food system simultaneously – rallying everyone behind beans and pulses while capitalising on the growing consumer focus on fibre.”
At the same time the charity is continuing its Bang In Some Beans programme, which was launched in November 2025 to double the UK’s bean and pulse consumption.
“Fibre is a vital part of healthy eating, but largely missing in so many British diets – particularly with our kids,” said Bang in Some Beans Ambassador and TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
“This campaign is about helping families see beans not as an afterthought, but as an everyday hero of the kitchen,” he added. “That’s such an important message, and it’s wonderful to see it gaining the momentum it deserves.”
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