Fruit :: Fruit and veggie program expands to 164 schools, Canada

The Province’s School Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program is expanding to include 164 B.C. schools, Gordon Hogg, Minister of State for ActNow BC, announced.

Following the initial expansion in January of this year, ActNow BC, with funding from the ministries of Agriculture and Lands, Education, and Health, has committed to providing the fruit and vegetable program to an additional 113 schools, for a total of 164 schools, this fall.

The goal for the program is to offer every public school in B.C. the opportunity to participate in the program by 2010. The School Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program is part of the Province’s ActNow BC initiative to make B.C. the healthiest jurisdiction ever to host an Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

“This expansion of the School Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program will encourage children to lead healthier lifestyles,” said Hogg. “Children spend an average of six hours a day at school, so it is important that they are provided with the proper nutrition to stay focused and healthy, and this program shows them the tools to do that. Our program evaluation, undertaken by the University of Victoria, shows clearly that this program is teaching children about nutrition and locally grown produce, as well as increasing their consumption of fruits and vegetables.”

Announced in March 2005 by Premier Gordon Campbell, the School Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program is delivered by the B.C. Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation in partnership with the Overwaitea Food Group through Save-On-Foods, Cooper’s Foods, Overwaitea Foods and PriceSmart Foods stores. Under the program, fruit and veggie snacks will be in classrooms of participating schools on a bi-weekly basis for about 18 weeks of each school year. The program’s success has been supported and augmented by parent advisory councils, administrators, teachers and parents.

“The School Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program goes hand-in-hand with the government’s ActNow BC strategy and our recently announced initiatives around the removal of junk food from vending machines and the introduction of mandatory daily physical activity,” said Education Minister Shirley Bond. “We know that healthy students are much better learners and we want to help them reach their potential through making healthy choices.”

The program sources fresh, B.C.-grown fruits and vegetables from B.C. growers throughout the province and will deliver to nearly 57,000 students with the expansion.

“The School Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program has proved to be a very positive way for parents to support healthy foods for children in their school communities,” said Kim Howland, president of BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils. “The expansion of this program, supported by Parent Advisory Councils is good news. By working together, we can provide a healthier learning environment for our children.”

Today’s announcement will help fulfil election and throne speech commitments to ensure all public schools have an opportunity to participate in the School Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program by 2010. The School Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program supports government’s goal to lead North America in healthy living and physical fitness. ActNow BC is a partnership-based cross-ministry health and wellness initiative that promotes healthy living choices to improve the quality of life for all British Columbians.


Leave a Comment