The School District of Palm Beach County had the opportunity for eight elementary schools (Belle Glade Elementary, Pahokee Elementary, Gove Elementary, Palmetto Elementary, West Gate Elementary, Hope-Centennial Elementary, Barton Elementary, and South Grade Elementary) to participate in the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) during the 2013-2014 school year. This federally assisted program cultivates healthier school environments by providing a fresh fruit or vegetable snack to all students in participating elementary schools during the school day.

The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) office administers the FFVP at the national level. In Florida, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Division of Food, Nutrition and Wellness (FNW) oversees the FFVP program implementation. Each participating elementary school is eligible to receive $50.00 per student for the entire school year. These funds are pre-determined by the state and are to be used when purchasing the fresh fruit or vegetable snack. The snack must be served outside of the normal time frames for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP). Each school district determines the best method to obtain and serve the additional snack. Monthly reimbursement claims are submitted for each school.

The Goal of FFVP is to:

The Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Grant awarded a total of $269,150 to the eight schools that participated. On August 19, 2013 the program started at the eight schools. The children, teachers and staff were excited about the opportunity the grant would provide them during the year.

During the 2013-2014 school year, The School District of Palm Beach County served a total of approximately 683,600 nutritious fruit and vegetable snacks. During August 2013 and September 2013 snacks were served every day. During the balance of the school year snacks were served three days a week, with the exception of holidays and early release days.

A menu was prepared each month that included a variety of fresh seasonal produce.

The teachers and administrators at each school incorporated nutritional education within the school day. Many teachers researched information about the fruits and vegetables provided and integrating the information into their reading and vocabulary lesson. Examples of such creative lessons: the teacher discussed the origin of the fruit and located the origin on the map; another created a balance diet chart and kept a diary of healthy and unhealthy food eaten during the school year.

In the 2013-2014 school year, grant applications were submitted for a total of thirteen schools. This included the eight schools who participated in FY 2013-2014, as well as the following five additional schools for FY 2014-2015: West Riviera Elementary, Rosenwald Elementary, Pine Grove Elementary, Pioneer Park Elementary, and Rolling Green Elementary.