Oglethorpe Ave. Elementary was one of 150 schools in Georgia selected to participate in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) for this school year, 2013-2014. The FFVP will provide all students with a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables during the school day at no cost. Students will be introduced to foods that they may never have tasted or even heard of before, such as star fruit, pomegranate, rutabaga and kohlrabi.
The FFVp is part of the Healthy Schools Program which functions under an umbrella organization known as the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation as a response to the growing rate of childhood obesity. The long term goal of this organization is to impact systemic change by influencing people to make small adjustments in their diets that will eventually grow to create new eating habits across families, communities and our nation as a whole. The Healthy Schools Program was started in 2006 and currently is the USA’s most extensive effort to prevent childhood obesity, including more than 18,000 schools in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
As part of the guidelines of the Healthy Schools Program, the Clarke County School District had to create a district-wide Wellness Council comprised of staff, parents and students. Although the student members have not been recruited yet, surveys have been issued to parents and staff concerning the goals, issues and immediate needs for Oglethorpe Ave. Elementary and the entire school district as well.
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Clarke County has cited this video to explain why school districts around the country have chosen to focus on wellness: An Apple a Day is Not Enough!
The program will officially start the week of August 26 and will continue throughout the school year. The fruits and vegetables will be offered as a snack before or after lunch. Teachers will receive various nutrition education materials to share with students in an attempt to impact the present and future health of kids and their family members. Stay tuned with the Athens School News blog to see pictures and hear stories of how the program is going.
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In addition to the Healthy Schools Program, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation also created the Healthier Generation Benefit, a program working with doctors and registered dieticians to provide access to preventive care and treatment for childhood obesity. Read more about this program here: https://www.healthiergeneration.org/
If you are interested in learning more about healthy snacks, the Center for Science in the Public Interest is a great resource!
