Local schools to benefit from fresh veggie grant

Four Bedford County schools have received funds from a federal grant to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to students throughout the school year, said Amanda Maynord Anderson, deputy director of communications for the Tennessee Department of Education.

Eakin Primary, East Side Primary, Harris Middle and Thomas received the grant, which will allow the schools to offer free fresh fruits and vegetables to students this year through the grant. The grant is provided through the United States Department of Agriculture.

"I'm excited to see our schools taking advantage of this opportunity to encourage students to eat better and make healthy choices," said State Sen. Jim Tracy. "This is another tool in our tool box to increase learning potential for our students."

Schools submitted applications to be considered and were selected based on factors such as staff commitment, efficient use of resources and innovative promotional efforts. Schools with the greatest percentage economically disadvantaged students were given the highest level of consideration, according to a press release issued by the Tennessee Department of Education.

Grant amounts for Bedford County Schools are as follows: Eakin, $27,004; East Side, $17,285; Harris Middle, $36,122; and Thomas, $26,804.

The 2009 school year marks the second year Tennessee has been able to participate in this grant. Eakin and East Side participated in the Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Program last year, but this is the first year for Harris and Thomas to participate in FFVP, Anderson said.

Southside also received the grant last year, however, the school did not receive grant funds this year.

The Fresh Fruits and Vegetables program aims to increase student consumption of fresh or fruits and vegetables. The grant will allow schools to provide approved fruits and vegetables at no charge to students during the school day. For example, fruits and vegetables must be fresh, not canned, frozen, or vacuum-packed.

Last year, the cafeteria staff at East Side found fun and creative ways to incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into the students' diets. For example, when the kindergarten class mastered the letter "C," the cafeteria staff cut up and delivered fresh carrots to the classroom for the little ones to eat.

"The grant allows us to purchase fresh fruit each week," said Beverly Ward, head of East Side's cafeteria staff, in a previous interview with the Times-Gazette. "The students get to eat it during snack time. We've done a lot of taste testing with different fruits."

Ward said both the staff and the students learned about (and ate) several fruits they'd known nothing about prior to the grant, such as star fruit, pomegranate, fresh figs, papaya, and ugli fruit.

"I applaud each of these schools for continuing to find new ways to provide healthy alternatives for our students," said Gov. Phil Bredesen in a news release. "Our schools continue to do more to encourage healthy habits in our children through school nutrition programs and coordinated school health partnerships in every district and these grants will enhance that effort."

Anderson said 72 middle and elementary schools across the state received the grant.