Pilot uses local food for school fundraisers

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

by SUSAN MANN

The Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association is handling the procurement and distribution of fruits and vegetables for a new pilot project where students at participating schools can sell these items to raise money for their schools.

The pilot is being offered to 379 elementary and secondary schools at 10 different school boards in Elgin, Middlesex and Oxford counties, the City of London, and the districts of Cochrane in Timmins and Algoma in Sault Ste. Marie.

Alison Robertson, program manager and special projects coordinator with the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, says in addition to the association, the partners in the Fresh From the Farm pilot are the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Ministry of Education and the Dietitians of Canada.

Robertson says schools have until Oct. 8 to sign up. She doesn’t know yet how much fruits and vegetables in total will be used in the program because this is the first year. The schools have until Oct. 18 to send in their orders and all the deliveries will occur in November, she says.

The program is designed to create consumer awareness for fruits and vegetables, healthy eating and buying local. “As a parent I’d rather put money towards fruit and vegetables than cookie dough,” she says.

Students will sell an eight-pound box of apples for $20 and a 10-pound bag of root vegetables for $10, which includes carrots, onions, potatoes and parsnips. Robertson says growers will get 50 per cent of the amount charged for the fruits or vegetables, while the schools get 40 per cent and the remaining 10 per cent goes back to the program to pay for the coordinator, website and other items.

The Ontario program is based on a similar program that has been going in Manitoba since 2010. That program has been “highly successful,” she says.

Robertson says the program doesn’t compete with farmers’ markets because the markets aren’t involved in school fundraising. “I think it complements it all and it complements Ontario agriculture.” BF