Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna
announced that 117 Idaho elementary schools are being awarded Fresh Fruit
and Vegetable Program grants to fund healthy and nutritious snacks within the
school day.
“The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program is a
voluntary program that many Idaho schools use each year to provide more
nutritious options to students and integrate in the classroom to create
engaging lessons about history, geography, writing or other critical subject
areas,” Superintendent Luna said.
The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program is part of a federal
initiative by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to allow schools the
opportunity to offer children samples of fruits and vegetables that they would
not usually consume. The goal of the
program is to give students the opportunity to try more fruits and vegetables,
in addition to what is offered in the National School Lunch Program.
The 117 Idaho schools awarded grants this year will use the
funding to provide students with a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables
at no charge. This is an effective and
creative way of introducing fresh fruits and vegetables as healthy snack
options. Schools receive reimbursement for providing the fresh fruits and
vegetables to all students within the school day, but at a different time than
the school meal programs operate.
Through the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, many schools
offer mid-morning or mid-afternoon snacks to students. The healthy snacks are delivered to the
classroom, distributed out in the cafeteria or in hallways. Students may be
given the opportunity to try Idaho grown fruits and vegetables such as apples,
carrots, corn, cucumbers, grapes, peaches, pears, pluots, pumpkins, tomatoes,
and zucchini. Students may also get to
try fruits and vegetables that they recognize, but in a different form. For example, many children may not have eaten
fresh corn or pineapple spears. Teachers often incorporate these opportunities into
a classroom lesson about healthy eating, geography, or having students write
about their experiences.
Schools were awarded the grants through a competitive
application process. The grant funding
for these schools will begin July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015.
For a list of schools that were awarded the grant or more information about Child Nutrition Programs at the
Idaho State Department of Education, please visit http://www.sde.idaho.gov/site/cnp/.
No comments:
Post a Comment