‘A daily dose of brain food’

BUCKETS OF GOODNESS: Kaiti School students Ryedn Bolingford, Quest Tangira and Majick Wong-Ling can’t wait to get stuck into a delivery of mandarins. Resource administrator Sandra Cooper says there are often children waiting for her in the morning to collect their buckets of fruit to take back to class. Picture by Paul Rickard

New research shows there is a strong desire for the Fruits and Vegetables in Schools (FIS) initiative to be expanded, with many low-decile Tairawhiti schools testifying to the benefits of the government-funded scheme.

There are 38 schools in the region which benefit from FIS — from as north as Ngata Memorial College in Ruatoria to as south as Wairoa Primary school and Wairoa College.

Te Wharau School deputy principal Sharelle Donaldson says the FIS initiative, which provides a nutritious daily snack for students, is fantastic.

“It allows children to be on an even playing field and helps them learn and be teachable.

“It also fits in well with other programmes at school like KidsCan and KickStart Breakfast programme.”

Te Wharau is one of many Gisborne Schools receiving weekly deliveries of fresh fruit and vegetables as part of FIS, which is funded by the Ministry of Health, run by United Fresh and supported by the 5+ A Day Charitable Trust.

“At the moment we’ve got mandarins, kiwifruit and apples, but we get a huge variety and have had pineapples, strawberries and grapes.

“Sometimes we get carrots and tomatoes as well. It depends on what is in season.”

It means all the students get their daily dose of brain food, she says.

Kaiti School resource administrator Sandra Cooper says they have been operating FIS for about 10 years.

“It’s an awesome initiative that provides a variety of fruit and vegetables to our tamariki, some of who don’t always have access to fresh fruit and vegetables at home.”

“Each child is allocated a piece of fruit each day. Some of them have never tried some of the types of fruit/veges before like tomatoes, carrots, pineapples and pears. Initially teachers had to think of creative ways to present them and encourage them to try them.”

It is also an opportunity to discuss healthy eating for their wellbeing.

“Having fruit in the classrooms is also great for tamariki who have come to school with no food, because they know they can help themselves to the fruit.”

Waikirikiri School is another fan of the FIS initiative.

“We get two to three deliveries every week and some of our senior students divide it into containers and deliver it into each classroom,” says deputy principal Wayne Abraham.

“For some it may be the only nutritious food they get in a day.”

Over 100,000 children from low-decile primary and intermediate schools throughout the country are part of FIS — that’s over 24 million servings every year at 550 different schools.

5+ A Day Charitable Trust chairman David Smith says Neilsen research conducted in May this year shows that the vast majority of parents (88 percent) agree the initiative should continue beyond 2019.

“Eighty percent of parents would like to see the initiative extended to all decile 3 primary and intermediate schools.”

A separate survey conducted by Quigley and Watts Ltd showed school principals were also in favour of the initiative, with 83 percent believing the overall health of their children would decline if FIS came to an end.

Three-quarters of parents surveyed say their children eat more fruit at home because it’s handed out at school.

“We know improving wellbeing and equity are important goals for the Government,” says Mr Smith.

“We believe this initiative is an excellent and affordable way to achieve both of these outcomes.”