This week in our Rose Voucher Voices series, we spoke to Dishan, a single mum raising two young children in Liverpool.

For the past year, Dishan has been using Rose Vouchers to help her buy fresh fruit & veg for her family. Between balancing the demands of caring for a three year old and a ten month old, cooking healthy meals from scratch, and navigating the rising cost of food, Dishan shared her experiences of what helps, and what still needs to change, for families trying to eat well.

What does healthy eating mean to you?

Healthy eating means good meals, eating healthy food like fruit & veg, not junk food, all handmade. I prefer to make everything at home. I don’t like junk food, and I don’t buy junk [food] for the kids because they’re little and they need healthy food to grow up.

What are some of the things that make it harder to eat healthily?

The hard part of healthy food is that it takes hours to make, and I got two little kids so it’s difficult with the kids to make food at home all the time, but it’s pleasure, I am responsible for them, I have to look after their health. I cook everything at home, like vegetarian dishes. I’m focusing more on the healthy food like to make vegetables with a sort of protein, like chicken, meat, fish.

Do you think a lot of people where you live struggle with the time it takes to cook healthy food?

Actually, I’ve got lots of friends and they’re all focusing on the healthy food but when the kids grow up, when they become teenagers, they automatically focus on junk food and fast food. I try my best to not depend on the fast food.

It’s hard for teenagers, isn’t it? Why do you think they like the junk food so much?

I think it’s because of the people around them, like all of the teenagers are the same, they’re just like, “Let’s go to McDonald’s. Let’s go to KFC.”

Roughly how long have you been receiving Rose Vouchers for?

The Healthy Start card I got a long time ago, because my son is about to turn four. The Rose Vouchers, it’s about a year. I get them from the [local] primary school, they’ve got Children’s Centre in there.

Have they made a difference to the way you eat?

Actually, it’s the same because before the vouchers, I was going to Lidl to grab the same stuff, but I’m glad now to get the stuff I’m buying from the van, now I’m using the [Rose] Vouchers.

Has it made buying fruit and veg more affordable?

Yes, of course!

Has anything else changed since you started receiving Rose Vouchers?

Yeah, my life got easier because of the van stopping in front of the school, so when my son finishes at the nursery, I go to the van and then pick up my stuff.

Is that Queen of Greens?

Yeah, my son loves strawberries and the blueberries, bananas, I get some broccoli, sometimes green onion, lemons, we love the lemons from there, it’s juicy and nice. Yeah, everything about that is perfect. It’s just stopping in the right place, in the right spot at the right time, and also it’s just by my house, so it’s near for me. I don’t have to go far away to buy my stuff. The guy is very friendly and helpful.

How many children do you have?

I’ve got two. The boy, who is the oldest one. He’s three and a half years old and the little baby girl, she’s ten months. I’m a single mum.

What else do you think needs to be changed to make buying and eating healthy food easier?

I don’t know, but I received an email that said there are changes to the Healthy Start card payment.

Would you like to see any changes to Healthy Start?

Yeah, so for example, they pay £34 for the kids under one year and they pay £17 for the kids over one year and actually the older kids need more money because they [cost] more money than the babies, so I think it should it should be like £34 for kids more than one year, not less than one year. I spend it on fruit & veg for my son. For example, my son asks for strawberries and blueberries every day, so I have to buy it a couple of times a week. So, thank you everyone for helping us, we are pleasant for the government and for all the people who is helping, but it would be better if they increase the amount.

Is there anything else that you would like to tell me about Rose Vouchers? Any other feedback you have?

I’m very happy with the service.