Fresh Fruit, Vegetable Program Announced for West Orange School

West Orange schoolchildren attending the Washington Elementary School will be the beneficiaries of a new state Department of Agriculture program to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to students during the 2013-14 school year, New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher said Monday.

 Under the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, funded by $3,934,586 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 144 state schools, students at Washington Elementary School, located at 289 Main St., will receive fresh produce during the school day as well as nutrition information, a statement from Fisher said.

The goal of the program is to expose children to healthy foods, increase their fruit and vegetable consumption and teach them improved lifelong dietary habits, the statement said.

“The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program gets kids excited about eating fresh produce,” Fisher said. “Participating schools have seen positive changes in the student population because of the program. We hope they will take these lessons and the good food habits with them into adulthood.” 

Starting in September, the selected schools located in 14 New Jersey counties with almost 76,000 students, will begin to offer fresh fruits and vegetables on a regular basis free to students each week.

Some of the criteria used in selecting the schools to participate included: Elementary schools with 50 percent or more of their students eligible for free or reduced price meals and schools that planned to purchase locally grown fruits and vegetables as much as possible.