Free fruit and veg scheme to be expanded in Hastings primary schools
It follows statistics showing that 1 in 10 children aren't getting their five-a-day
An improved free fruit and veg scheme's hoping to help more children in Hastings get their five a day after it's been found only one in ten do.
Currently in England, the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme provides a free piece of fruit or vegetable to children aged 4–6 who attend fully state-funded schools, but this stops for children in key stage 2 and above.
But now a new pilot scheme will see that expanded to all pupils at both the Baird Primary Academy and Ore Village Primary Academy, with children offered at least one piece a day.
Elaine Hindal from the British Nutrition Foundation says it's hoped the scheme will help build "healthy eating habits for life":
"The initiative is supported with teaching materials as well, so they can talk about the fruit and veg in the classroom and bring some of those home as well to expose the family to what they've been having in school.
"We hope it will achieve more balance in the diet and an understanding of what a good diet looks like."
The schools were selected for having a higher than average free school meal ratio, and join 400 hundred others across the country in a move that will provide around 16 million fruits and vegetables to children.
Elaine adds that the cost of living has had an impact on how families shop:
"We know that eating healthily is expensive for some families - and for low income families in particular, being able to afford fresh fruit and vegetables is a really important consideration."
"You want to make sure your children are going to like what you buy.
"So this initiative gives us an opportunity to expose children to things they've maybe not tried before, to new kinds of fruit and vegetables."