European trade body Freshfel still has concerns regarding the European School Fruit Scheme (SFS), which kicked off at the start of the school year two months ago.
Freshfel was giving evidence to the Management Committee for the Common Marketing Organisation for Fruit and Vegetables at the European Commission this week when delegate-general Philippe Binard gave a presentation providing an overview of feedback, concerns and input from the association’s membership regarding implementation.
While highlighting the background and objectives of the programme, he stressed that health should remain at the heart of the scheme.
Ramon Rey, Freshfel president, said: “The SFS should become an essential tool to address the dramatic rise of childhood obesity. Preventing obesity is the best long-term solution, but the integrity of the programme and a careful selection of products is of paramount importance to make sure that the youngest consumers change their eating habits, get used to new tastes and textures, while discovering and enjoying a wide diversity of fresh produce.”
While the council and commission SFS regulations are now in place, the work is not over, but on the contrary has just started, Freshfel warns. However, it has concerns regarding some aspects of the implementation of the programme through national strategies. Binard said: “There is a lack not only of clarity and detailed information for some national strategies, but also centralised and consolidated information of programmes at the EU level is missing.”
He underlined that the sector is eager to contribute and to provide its expertise on logistics, product handling and sorting for the successful implementation of the scheme. He said: “The School Fruit Scheme is a unique opportunity for a public-private partnership where all expertise available should be used. Schools, the fruit and vegetables sector, the scientific and health community, programme managers, as well as the national and European public sector, all have input and experience to provide for the success of the programme.”
During the meeting, Freshfel also emphasised concerns regarding the proper communication of the School Fruit Scheme and called for the full use of the agreed budget of €1.3 million for EU accompanying measures as a key tool to secure the good functioning and awareness of the programme.
For some reason that the commission has not made clear, it is not using this budget. As a consequence, many communications and networking issues are still up in the air - for example, there has been little progress in setting up an EU website to promote the scheme and under this budget, the commission could also be fostering networking and the exchange of best practices. Freshfel urged the commission to set up an expert scientific group, as well as a stakeholders' advisory ad hoc committee. Finally, Freshfel called on the commission to boost its communication on the SFS to raise awareness about the programme. The communication policy should also be fine-tuned to avoid confusing young consumers about the elements of a balanced diet. At the moment, the commission is implying by the fact that school schemes are available for milk and fruit and vegetables that a balanced diet can be reached by consuming these two product categories alone.
Binard said: “The Tasty Bunch campaign is misleading and confusing. A balanced diet cannot be reached by eating only selective products of the food pyramid. Freshfel advocates the commission to refocus its strategy and move towards a dedicated communication policy. This is particularly relevant for the SFS to reach a greater level of awareness by schools, teachers, students and the general public.”
In the UK, the European SFS funds part of the school scheme in Scotland. The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme in England does not receive funding under the European SFS but is funded by national government.
