School Fruit & Veg Scheme

School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme

Article provided by NHS Choices

The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme (SFVS) is a government programme that entitles every child aged 4-6 in fully state-funded schools to a piece of fruit or vegetable each school day

The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme (SFVS) helps your child achieve 5 A Day. Fruit and vegetables are a good source of the nutrients that children need and form part of a healthy, balanced diet. It's recommended that children – like adults – eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day.

The SFVS and your child

If your child is aged four to six and attends a fully state-funded infant, primary or special school in England, they are entitled to receive a free piece of fruit or vegetable each school day.

That provides one of their 5 A Day portions, and the scheme also helps to increase awareness of the importance of eating fruit and vegetables, encouraging healthy eating habits that can be carried into later life.

Teachers find that distributing the fruit in class groups helps to encourage a sharing, calm, social time. It also allows them to incorporate the scheme into teaching and learning.

SFVS and the school day

The fruit and vegetables are delivered to school three times a week to ensure freshness. Depending on the season, there is a choice of:

bananas
apples
pears
carrots
tomatoes
easy-peel citrus fruits, such as satsumas

When they are in season strawberries are also offered.

All the fruit and vegetables are washed before they are handed out, which is usually just before the mid-morning break, to individual classes.

They are not handed out at lunchtime - this ensures that the fruit and vegetables supplied are not simply replacing the fruit and vegetables that might have been eaten at lunchtime anyway.