Next week the Fruit in Schools (FIS) initiative begins another year of providing a service to more than 5840 tamariki in 35 schools and kura throughout Hawke’s Bay, who will get a healthy snack of fresh fruit or vegetables each school day.

The scheme has been recognised by the World Health Organisation for performing a pivotal role in supporting the health and wellbeing of our tamariki for more than 17 years.

Te Whatu Ora funds the FIS initiative, managed by United Fresh and supported by the 5+ A Day Charitable Trust.

Trust chairman David Smith says FIS will provide critical nutrition for tamariki as inflation hits many whānau in the pocket.

 “It’s no secret that families throughout Hawke’s Bay are doing it tough this year. FIS is a great way to ensure the healthy kai grown on orchards and farms around the country gets to where it’s most needed,” he says.

“We produce some of the highest-quality fresh produce in the world, and the fresh fruit and vegetables that tamariki receive through FIS provide vital dietary nutrients for growing bodies and minds,” says Smith.

Pōrangahau School is just one of the schools enrolled in the FIS initiative. School representative Courtney Sciascia says the fresh produce deliveries are effective for tamariki.

“Everything is great, we don’t have free lunches here so we really rely on the fruit, it is a Godsend to us. The fruit is nice and fresh and the tamariki enjoy it,” she says.

5+ A Day trustee Dr Carolyn Lister says fresh seasonal produce is delivered twice a week to schools or kura enrolled in FIS so that tamariki and kaiako (staff) can eat it every day, and have the opportunity to try more than two dozen fruit and vegetable varieties during the school year.

“Around 80 per cent of FIS schools also participate in the Ministry of Education’s Ka Ora, Ka Ako – Healthy School Lunches. Feedback from schools shows these initiatives work well together. For example, many schools have provided feedback that tamariki are more engaged with their learning as the nourishment they receive from FIS at morning tea and Ka Ora, Ka Ako at lunchtime provides the energy they need throughout the school day,” she says.

“FIS is about so much more than a piece of fresh produce. Nine out of 10 principals enrolled in the initiative said FIS led to a sense of equality between students regardless of their family circumstances, and 83 per cent of principals said their children’s overall health would decline if FIS ended,” she says.

“We also know that the role-modelling of eating a variety of healthy kai together at school has much wider benefits for tamariki and their whānau and influences long-term changes. Our research found that 70 per cent of parents said that their child liked eating fruit more because of FIS, and 37 per cent said they like eating vegetables more,” says Dr Lister.