Third Quincy school to begin offering fruits and vegetables as snacks
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By EDWARD HUSAR Herald-Whig Staff Writer
A federal program that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to school children is being expanded to a third Quincy school this fall.
Quincy's Early Childhood and Family Center has participated in the program since 2009, and Washington Elementary School was added to the program in 2010. Now Berrian Elementary School will start benefiting from the program through funding announced this week by the Illinois State Board of Education.
The three Quincy schools are among 267 in Illinois that will participate in the program in 2012-13 thanks to $4.9 million in federal funds given to Illinois for this venture, up from $4.7 dispensed to 215 schools last year.
Under the program, students at participating schools will be given access to a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables as a snack at least twice a week. Schools are allowed to make the additional produce available to students anytime during the regular school day -- except during breakfast and lunch.
Jean Kinder, the district's director of food service, said this is a "wonderful program," and she's glad to see it being expanded to Berrian School.
"I think it's always exciting to be able to provide more fresh fruits and vegetables to kids," she said. "It will give them the opportunity to try more fruits and vegetables."
In previous years, the district has been able to offer students some familiar items such as bananas and apples and carrot sticks. But some uncommon items have been offered as well, including kumquats, which look like miniature oranges; clementines, a type of mandarin orange; and grapples, a kind of apple that tastes like a grape.
The goal is to introduce students to assorted fruits and vegetables so they may be more willing to eat such things in the future.
"It's really fun to get kids to try new things," Kinder said. "They really enjoy it, and it really expands what they're eating at home. They'll go to the grocery store and they'll say, ‘Mom, we had that at school. Can you buy that?' So I think it's really a good thing."
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