USDA Fruit and Vegetable Program Kids are eating it up
The concept is simple: Offer fresh fruit and vegetable
snacks during the school day, and improve children’s daily consumption.
In reality, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Fruit and Vegetable
Program is transforming
schools into models for healthy behavior and better learning environments.
And in the process, it has received rave reviews from school administrators,
students and parents alike.
The 2002 farm bill created an innovative pilot program
to provide free fresh fruit and vegetable snacks to students in participating
schools. Separate
and distinct from the schools’ existing meals programs, the snack program
is intended to increase children’s fruit and vegetable consumption
for their better health. Implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
(USDA) Food and Nutrition Service, the $6 million pilot program provided
grants to 25 schools in each of six states and one Native American territory.
The schools used the funds to purchase the school’s choice of snacks.
An April 2003 USDA evaluation report noted that the program was highly popular
with students and administrators alike – and that students were performing
better at school, and eating more fruits and vegetables at home as a result.
In 2004, Congress made the program permanent, and expanded
it to eight states and three Native American territories. Now, PBH and its
allies are working
to extend the successful Fruit and Vegetable Program to every state, to benefit
more of our nation’s schoolchildren.
