United Fresh Vice President of Nutrition and Health Dr. Lorelei DiSogra and Doug Hill, district director for House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI), visited James Madison Elementary School in Stevens Point, Wisc. to visit the school's  Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program (FFVP). In its second year of implementing the FFVP, James Madison provides all 410 students in grades K-6 with fresh fruit and vegetable snacks every school day.

"During our visit," said Dr. DiSogra, "James Madison served a variety of bell peppers - green, orange and red. The students were very excited and clearly in love with the bright, colorful peppers, telling us that each color had a different flavor. It was amazing - at 10 in the morning, the kids were eating and loving bell peppers!"

James Madison students went on to tell members of the group how much they looked forward to the daily snack and about the wide variety of new fresh fruits and vegetables they had been introduced to through the FFVP.

James Madison has a long commitment to improving the eating habits of every student, starting with a "Fruit-On-A-Cart" pilot program three years ago funded by a Hunger and Poverty Prevention Grant.  After the program saw positive results, several James Madison teachers took the lead in applying to the state for funding for the FFVP. The school receives about $21,000/year through the state to fund the FFVP and a local Stevens Point Kwik Trip store provides almost all of the fresh fruits and vegetables.

Already this school year, James Madison students have enjoyed blueberries, strawberries, oranges, apples, kiwi, pears, peaches, bananas, carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, grapes, pepper sticks, jicama, sweet potato sticks, pineapple and melons.

Principal Mary Jo Lechner noted that the students at James Madison have definitely increased their fruit and vegetable consumption as a direct result of the FFVP and that they had surprised even themselves with the variety of fruits and vegetables they now enjoy.

After the visit, Dr. DiSogra, along with Luke Rollins, director of state advocacy for the American Heart Association and Wisconsin state health and education officials provided Hill with information about the number of schools in the state applying for funding for the FFVP, as well as the number of schools receiving funds for new cafeteria equipment through the federal stimulus package. Last year, Wisconsin had twice as many schools applying for the FFVP than the state was able to fund and only 15% of the applications the state received for cafeteria equipment were funded.

The visit was part of United Fresh's ongoing commitment to take members of Congress and their staffers to visit schools participating in the FFVP, as well as schools with salad bars. Hill promised to bring Congressman Obey back to visit the school and see its success first-hand in the near future.

Dr. DiSogra was in Stevens Point to speak on child nutrition policy before the Wisconsin Action for Health Kids Summit. In her address, Dr. DiSogra urged attendees to support United's child nutrition priorities and engage in advocacy with Wisconsin’s congressional delegation. "You build political will one member of Congress at a time!" she said.

United Fresh thanks Luke Rollins and the Wisconsin American Heart Association, as well as the Wisconsin Departments of Health and Public Instruction for the opportunity to visit James Madison and speak before the Summit. For more information on United's child nutrition priorities, please contact Dr. DiSogra at 202 303-3400.