Fewer fresh fruits, vegetables in Treasure Coast schools thanks to tougher program standards

[The Straight Story]

Fewer fresh fruits, vegetables in Treasure Coast schools thanks to tougher program standards

Thousands of children in Treasure Coast public schools will not have fresh fruits and vegetables as a classroom snack this coming school year because their schools don’t have a high enough percentage of children on a free or reduced price lunch program.

The USDA program for schools with a majority of students on a free or reduced price lunch program is meant to provide children with fruits and vegetables they might not get otherwise. All students in a qualified school receive a morning or afternoon snack.

The reduction from about 7,600 students in 14 Treasure Coast schools to about 2,700 students in five schools is due to tougher standards issued this year by the US Department of Agriculture for its Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, said Cheryl Etters, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Education which administers the program for the USDA.

In deciding which schools qualify, the state DOE is no longer allowed to consider the school’s fruit and vegetable distribution plan and can only make selections based on the percent of a school’s students on free and reduced price lunches, she said. The change allowed three schools in St. Lucie County to qualify for the first time.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/aug/19/fewer-fresh-fruits-vegetables-in-treasure-coast/

[elleng]

1. One of the many (unfortunate) unintended consequences of 'regulation.'

[wtmusic]

2. Providing any unpackaged goods for our school fundraisers is now prohibited

because the district is concerned about liability.

So no fresh fruit, baked goods etc. In practice what was usually substituted was box store junk food, but now the reg is widely ignored.

[sandnsea]

3. Three schools qualify for the first time.

So let me see. There were 14 schools in the program before. There are 5 in the program now that it is based on the free and reduced lunch program.

So, previously, 12 higher income schools received free fresh fruits and vegetables instead of lower income schools where the kids tend to live in the "food deserts" and whose parents have a harder time affording fresh foods.

This sounds like a good thing to me. Maybe the Dept of Ag needs to expand the program to make sure all kids with high usage of free/reduced lunches get the same snacks.

[Riftaxe]

5. So your position is screw nutrition for the kids

on the free lunch program because they attend a school in a higher income neighborhood?

Keep them damn poor all in one district, out of sight, out of mind eh?

Or perhaps you did not think your post through...

[sandnsea]

7. My position is, first things first

If you're going to have a pilot program, let's help the most kids possible, who have the most need.

It's not like the poor kids in the higher income schools are not getting fed. They're still getting breakfast and lunch, and hopefully those schools will take a look at those menus and see where they can substitute a fresh fruit or vegetables since their parents have become accustomed to those kids getting that in their diet.

And how does advocating for those poor kids - who were kept out of sight, out of mind, and out of fresh food by the wealthier schools - make ME the bad guy?

[ixion]

4. bureaucracy in action

joy.

[Riftaxe]

6. This quote pretty much sums it up

The reduction from about 7,600 students in 14 Treasure Coast schools to about 2,700 students in five school

Brain dead regulation screwing over the poorest of society, per usual.