During snack time on a typical Tuesday at Robert Asp Elementary School, you might find a full classroom of students crunching on apple slices while receiving a lesson on nutrition. The next day at the same time, those same pupils might be enjoying carrot sticks or fresh broccoli—along with every other student at Robert Asp. The ability for all these children to be snacking on fresh fruits and vegetables is part of an innovative grant program from the Minnesota Department of Education.
For the 2023-24 school year, the Minnesota Department of Education selected Robert Asp to participate in the United States Department of Agriculture’s Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program (FFVP). Robert Asp was selected by the state via a competitive grant process.
This program, which started in October, provides a fresh fruit or vegetable snack for students in each classroom during the school day approximately four times per week. Each snack is accompanied by a nutrition education lesson.
“The main goals of FFVP are to expand the variety of fruits and vegetables that students experience and teach healthy eating habits through nutrition education,” explained Jennifer Clow, Head Cook at Robert Asp. “The FFVP snack time is an ideal teaching opportunity for nutrition education with the children.”
FFVP encourages students to enjoy the fruits and vegetables “as they are,” meaning that the produce is presented in a way that makes each snack easily identifiable. This allows the children to become more familiar with the fruits and vegetables they take a liking to.
The Minnesota Department of Education calls FFVP “an effective and creative way to introduce fresh fruits and vegetables as healthy snack options.” According to the USDA website, FFVP “is an important tool in our efforts to combat childhood obesity. The program has been successful in introducing elementary school children to a variety of produce that they otherwise might not have the opportunity to sample.”
To learn more about the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program, visit the Minnesota Department of Education’s Food and Nutrition Services website.