Edinburgh Community Food are supporting the Best Start Food scheme by supplying a substantially enhanced healthy food box for those in receipt of the Best Start Food Grant. This provides exceptional value for money to ensure young families have access to an affordable, healthy diet.

Best Start Foods is a payment that replaces the UK Government’s Healthy Start vouchers in Scotland. The payment will replace the paper vouchers with a payment card, giving you more flexibility in how you use it.

You can get Best Start Foods:
if your child is the right age for a payment whether you’re in work or not, as long as you’re on certain payments or benefits as long as you’re the parent of a child, or the main person looking after the child

You can apply for Best Start Foods when you’re pregnant, or any time up to your child turning 3 years old.
The payments of Best Start Foods are:
£17 every 4 weeks during pregnancy £34 every 4 weeks from your child being born up until they’re a 1 year old £17 every 4 weeks between the ages of 1 and 3

What can I use my Best Start Foods card for?
You can use the card to buy any of the healthy foods listed below in supermarkets and local shops that takes bank card payments or you can use your card online.
fresh eggs milk – plain cow’s milk and first infant formula fruit/vegetables – fresh, frozen or tinned (those with added salt and sugar are excluded) pulses (e.g. peas, lentils and beans) – dried, fresh, frozen or tinned.
You can also spend your Best Start Food grant with us at Edinburgh Community Food and get extra free items included.

See the attached leaflet for more information, you can purchase direct from our website at
www.edinburghcommunityfood.org.uk.

Best Start Foods Leaflet