Hundreds of schoolchildren in Kent will receive free tomatoes from Kent supplier Thanet Earth from today, as part of the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme (SFVS), operated by NHS Supply Chain.

Steve McVickers, managing director at Thanet Earth, said: “We very much hope that this will be the first of many occasions in which school pupils are offered our produce through the SFVS. We hope that teachers will discuss the tomatoes with the children - to explain a little about how they are grown and how good they are to eat.

"We have selected one of the sweetest small tomato varieties called Sunstream; it’s widely available in supermarkets so we hope to help introduce children to a tomato variety that’s both easy to find and delicious.”

NHS Supply Chain distributes a wide selection of fruit and vegetables, including apples, bananas and carrots, to around 16,500 schools on behalf of the department of health for the SFVS.

The government-run scheme was designed to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among schoolchildren, and was originally run by NHS Purchasing and Supply when it began in 2000 before NHS Supply Chain took over responsibility for the project in 2006.

Gareth Jones, senior buyer at NHS Supply Chain who is responsible for the management of the scheme, said: “We are proud that Thanet Earth has joined the SFVS as this benefits local children by providing nutritious vegetables and also benefits the local supplier.”

Thanet Earth currently harvests around 2.5 million tomatoes, 500,000 cucumbers and 700,000 peppers each week.

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