Sep 7, 2017 - FPS Nutrition Services offers meals and snacks that expose ... they would be less likely to find on the di
Nutrition Services
Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program Consuming five to nine servings of fruit and vegetables is the daily recommendation for better health, according to the USDA Dietary Guideline for Americans. How did you do yesterday? In order to help fulfill these guidelines, the FPS Nutrition Services offers meals and snacks that expose students to healthy eating habits through smart food choices. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program (FFVP) is one of the mechanisms that support this effort. The FFVP provides funding through state departments to eligible elementary schools for servings of fresh fruit or vegetables during the daily morning milk break and in middle schools for the daily meal service. This food is in addition to the fruits and vegetables that students may already receive through the FPS Nutrition Services regular breakfast and lunch programs. Thirteen schools are participating in the FFVP for the 2017–18 school year: Ben Franklin Middle School, along with Clara Barton, Eagles, Ed Clapp, Hawthorne, Horace Mann, Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, Lincoln, Madison, McKinley, Roosevelt, and Washington Elementary Schools. Schools that provide free and reduced meals are eligible for participation in the FFVP when they meet threshold percentages. Foods being purchased and served in the FFVP include items such as apples, grapes, pears, carrots, and cucumbers. The program also seeks to expose children to fruits and vegetables they would be less likely to find on the dinner table at home, such as star fruit, jicama, mango, grapples, snow peas, yellow carrots, zucchini, purple and green cauliflower, yellow teardrop tomatoes, or even Romanesco Broccoli (“broccoflower;” pictured at left). Depending on the density and calories of the item, servings are typically between one to three ounces. The District works with its nutrition service supplier, Sysco, to acquire fruits and vegetables that are in season. This helps reduce costs, and utilizes the resources of locally-grown foods with some types of produce. The Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program also includes an educational component, to share nutritional information and agricultural facts with students, especially with the more unusual varieties of fruit and vegetables. The Family and Consumer Science cooking classes at the middle school level also receive presentations from the Nutrition Services staff on how to best prepare and serve the items. “It’s our goal to help our students become life-long consumers of fresh fruits and vegetables’” said FPS Nutrition Services Director Cindy Hogenson. “Hopefully, ones who are even willing to try new things!” This is the eighth year FPS has participated in the FFVP program. For more information, visit the links above, the FPS Nutrition Services website, or contact FPS Nutrition Services at 701.446.1103.
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