Fruit in Schools

The Fruit in Schools programme delivers up to 100,000 pieces of fresh produce each school day to nearly 500 decile one and two primary schools throughout the country. It was begun in 2005 and the number of schools receiving fruit and vegetables has grown from 25 to 473 and includes 88,000 children. The programme is funded by the Ministry of Health and managed by United Fresh NZ.

United Fresh is a collaborative fresh produce industry body formed in 1991 which has membership from retailers, wholesalers, growers, product groups, Horticulture New Zealand, service providers, packing companies and seed companies. It founded the 5+ A Day Charitable Trust in 2007 for promotions, communications and education, including early childhood, primary and intermediate schools. By linking 5+ A Day into the curriculum through health and education messages, United Fresh has gained a reputation as providers of practical and fun classroom concepts encouraging children to learn about and eat fresh fruit and vegetables every day. The 5+ A Day registered trademark has become one of the most recognised food/health brands in NZ. United Fresh members are able to use the 5+ A Day brand on their promotional material for fresh fruit and vegetables.

United Fresh manages the fruit and vegetable provision for the government-funded Fruit in Schools programme nationwide. It provides fruit and vegetables to 473 low-decile schools across 21 regions from the Far North to Southland, supplying 96,283 pieces of fruit and vegetables every day.

The provision of fresh produce is providing both health and education benefits and United Fresh strengthens these benefits by providing curriculum linked resources through the 5+ A Day Charitable Trust. The resource “Growing and Learning with 5+ A Day” encourages the children to learn about fruit and vegetables, how to grow them and the health benefits they provide. Counties Manukau, Northland and Waikato have the largest numbers of participating schools.

Holy Cross School Papatoetoe is an enthusiastic participant in the Fruit in Schools programme, with 600 children on the school roll.