Press ReleaseFor Immediate Release

 

BOISE SCHOOLS RECEIVE FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GRANT

 

Boise, ID -- 6/6/13 -- Boise School District announced today that eleven schools in the District have been selected to receive grant money to provide healthy and nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables as part of a Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.  This will be the fifth year that Boise School District has participated in this U.S. Department of Agriculture Program (USDA), with new schools being selected each year.  Schools were awarded the grants through a competitive application process.  The funds were awarded based on total number of students at each school and will be used for the purchase and delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables and related educational material.

 

The grant funding for these schools will begin July 1, 2013 and last until June 30, 2014.  The schools and the amount of funding they qualified for include: 

 

Whittier Elementary School

$21,492.90

 

Whitney Elementary School

$26,252.4

 

William Howard Taft Elementary School (awarded for a fifth year)

$17,034.00

 

Jefferson Elementary School

$15,480.90

 

Koelsch Elementary School

$15,180.30

 

Morley Nelson Elementary School

$31,713.30

 

Garfield Elementary School

$20,691.30

 

Grace Jordan Elementary School

$32,314.50

 

Horizon Elementary School

$33,617.10

 

Hawthorne Elementary School

$14,378.70

 

Mountain View Elementary School (new this year)

$16,683.30

 

"We are delighted that these schools were chosen to participate in this valuable program," said Peggy Moore, District Food & Nutrition Services Supervisor.  "This program has been very well received by the students. The program supports our efforts to educate students on making healthy choices while at school or when at home." 

 

The fresh fruit and fresh vegetable snacks are delivered to the classroom in the afternoon several days during the week.  Students may be given the opportunity to try exotic fruits and vegetables such as Kumquat, Satsuma tangerines, mango and dragon fruit.  Students may also get to try fruits and vegetables that they may recognize, but in a different form.  For example, some children may have not eaten fresh peaches or fresh asparagus. The Food & Nutrition Services Department provides teachers with educational materials that can be used to incorporate lessons about healthy eating, geography and agriculture into the curriculum.

 

The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program is part of an initiative by the USDA to increase students' fresh fruit and vegetable consumption, expand the variety of fruits and vegetables that students experience, create healthier school environments by providing healthier choices to students and positively impact students' present and future health. 

 

For more information about the healthy options Boise Schools is providing to students, visit our website at www.food.school.boiseschools.org .

    

News Media Contact:

 

Dan Hollar

Public Affairs Administrator

Boise School District  

(208) 854-4064

[email protected]  

www.boiseschools.org     

 

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