The Italian Programme ‘Fruit in Schools’ will become European Programme for Food Education. Paolo De Castro, president of the EU commission, revealed this in advance at ‘Fruitlogistica’, in the area for Italian exhibitors.
This is the most important project in Europe, with investments for 30 million Euros and the involvement of more than 1 million children, with the support of Ministry of agricultural and forestry policies. The new aid schemes for students of primary schools for distributing fruit and vegetables and milk, now pending approval, put strong emphasis on the educational dimension of this initiative, as well as purpose of bringing young people closer to food products and their origin. This way, the perception of agriculture and its products, Common Agricultural Policy, and the EU will be improved.
Felice Assenza, general manager of International Politics and European Union of Mipaaf, says: ‘The future strategies of the Project ‘Milk and Fruit in Schools’ will offer good opportunities concerning the development of Italian fruit and vegetables as well as dairy sectors, with positive effects for our agriculture’.
These programmes will be proposed in primary schools throughout Italy, starting from 2017 school year, with the aim of helping to provide the tools in order to better respond to the general problems concerning the drop in consumption of fruit, vegetables, and milk.
