Evaluation of the School Fruit Scheme in Cyprus – Recommendation for provision of more organic products
A report for the evaluation of the scheme promoting the consumption of fruits and vegetables in schools for the school years 2013-2014, 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 has been published. The effectiveness of the School Fruit Scheme (SFS) was assessed with filed surveys but the absence of baseline measurements for fruit and vegetable consumption didn’t allow for a comparative analysis. Based on the scheme coordinators’ views and the students’ questionnaire results, the effectiveness of the scheme was deemed as “positive”. The evaluation report reaffirms the existential need of the SFS and concludes with a number of recommendations such as understanding students’ consumption preferences for fruit and vegetables, increasing the involvement of parents and broadening the cooperation between teachers and farmers. It is of note that one of the report recommendations is the greater use of organic products through cooperation with collective organizations of organic producers. The ORGANIKO LIFE+ project supports this initiative by implementing the children’s health study in schools, by communicating to the Ministry of Education the idea for provision of organic products in schools and by organizing short-chain organic market in the university.
You can find the report here:
