Czech Republic celebrates first anniversary
May 15th, 2012
Interview with Katerina Slunecková (Vím, co jím (VCJ) Programme Manager)
When did you begin working with Choices?
I first heard about the Choices Programme when I was living in Belgium for a year with my husband. He showed me the Choices stamp on many different products, and that really sparked my interest. We returned to the Czech Republic, and I began working for the Programme here as of July 2011.
What is the role of the VCJ Programme in Czech health policies?
In recent years, obesity levels in the Czech Republic have been steadily increasing – and in particular among children. The cause is very often poor food choices and bad eating habits. VJC's aim is to actively engage consumers in health related issues, so that they not only try to get regular exercise, but also focus more on the quality of the food they consume and aim for a more nutritionally balanced diet. We would like to start from an early age, by participating in educational programmes for schools and pre-schools. We would also like to highlight the benefits of Programme participation to food producers, so that they want to join and reformulate their products according to the Programme criteria. This would not only enable more nutritionally balanced options to be made available to consumers, but also a wider range of healthy imported food.
Do you feel connected with the international dimension of the Choices Programme?
Definitely! Especially as this year we've managed to deepen our cooperation with the Choices International Foundation secretariat in Brussels, as well as with Pavel Telička, the Chairman of Choices – who we're proud to say is also Czech!
How would you like to see the Czech Programme develop and why?
In the near future, we would like to begin cooperating with a multinational retail chain. We would also like to increase the number of food producers participating in Choices in the Czech Republic so that we can expand the range of products that carry the VJC logo. By doing so, our aim is to cover all the products that an ordinary consumer puts into his or her shopping basket!