I must confess it seems a little perverse to talk about heading back to school while most of us are already thinking about the sunny beaches and refreshing cocktails we will enjoy in the weeks to come. But it is in fact topical to turn to the subject.

Recently, Michel Barnier, the French minister of agriculture (you know - the one who brought a picnic basket to Peter Mandelson at the World Trade Organisation talks in Geneva), along with minister of public health Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, visited kids in a summer camp. They were supporting an initiative largely welcomed by the fresh produce industry, entitled ‘Fruit for leisure’. The operation kicked off in early July and will continue all the way through the holidays and up to the end of December 2008.

‘Fruit for leisure’ is a very simple concept: free distribution of fruit to kids in camps and leisure centres. This is not a school-related topic, you may say - but in fact, the campaign is the summer holiday equivalent of another upcoming initiative entitled ‘Fruit at break time’, which will aim to distribute fruit to children in nurseries and primary schools in so-called “high-priority education zones”. These are areas where children may encounter difficulties in learning because of their surroundings.

Free weekly distribution of fruit will take place when the schools re-open for business in September. Globally, the summer operation should touch more than four million kids in the country, for a total budget of £315,220.

Fresh produce wholesalers are definitely at the forefront of this operation - as you may expect, since they serve school canteens on a regular basis anyway. It is very reassuring that wholesalers are playing a relatively large role in ‘Fruit for leisure’.

During the ministers’ visits, Bernard Piton, president of the fresh produce wholesalers’ union, pointed out that more than 114 companies are involved in providing and distributing fruits to the leisure centres and camps involved in the scheme.

Encouraging youngsters to consume more fruit and vegetables is now a Europe-wide matter, with proposals for a new school fruit scheme recently announced by the European Commission. Let’s for once be a little bit proud, as wholesalers did not wait for funding from Brussels to take some positive steps in this regard.