HUDSON COUNTY – Sixteen schools in Hudson County are among 151 schools in New Jersey to receive grant money through the 2015-2016 school year’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP). Recipients include seven schools in West New York, six schools in Union City, and one each in Guttenberg, Jersey City, and Harrison.
The United States Department of Agriculture has allocated $4,172,474 to New Jersey for next school year’s FFVP to provide fresh produce to more than 76,400 students in 14 counties during the school day. The students also will receive nutrition education. The goal of the program is to expose children to healthy foods, increase their fruit and vegetable consumption and set them on the road to improved lifelong dietary habits.
The Department of Agriculture will provide additional funds to schools for connecting their FFVP with the Farm to School Program. The schools must provide Jersey Fresh produce a minimum of two days each month from September to November and from April to June and must verify where the produce was grown. Seventy percent of the 151 schools have agreed to participate.
Some of the criteria used in selecting the schools to participate included: elementary schools with 50 percent or more of their students eligible for free or reduced price meals; schools that planned to purchase locally grown fruits and vegetables as much as possible; the program would be well-publicized and all students would have access to the produce offered; and plans to partner with outside organizations to enhance nutrition education.
The following schools participated in the program in Hudson County.
In Guttenberg: Anna L. Klein School. In Jersey City: Dr. Lena Edwards Academic Charter School. In Union City: Colin Powell School, Jefferson School, Robert Waters School, Roosevelt School, Thomas A. Edison School, and Washington School. In West New York: Early Childhood #4 Annex, Public Schools #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 – Bain. In Harrison: Hamilton School.
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