NORTH ROSE, N.Y. �" United Fresh Vice President of Nutrition and Health Dr. Lorelei DiSogra and New York Apple Association President Jim Allen visited Rochester-area North Rose Elementary School Friday to launch the school’s participation in the nationwide Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program. Accompanying Dr. DiSogra and Mr. Allen were representatives from the New York State Department of Education and Cornell University’s Wayne County Cooperative Extension.

“We are ecstatic about taking this program to as many new schools in as many states as possible, but I am nonetheless struck at how enthusiastic the kids here at North Rose Elementary are about their fruits and vegetables,” said Dr. DiSogra.  The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program, which was expanded nationally in the 2008 Farm Bill, provides federal funding for fruit and vegetable snacks in order to develop life-long healthy eating habits and combat obesity at a young age. “This event is especially rewarding because United Fresh, New York Apple Association and other United Fresh members fought hard for nationwide expansion of the school snack program,” concluded DiSogra.

Mr. Allen was equally optimistic about the program’s launch at North Rose. “This is a great time for New York apples and New York produce as a whole. Programs like the one here at North Rose are a fantastic way to bring healthy and world-class Empire State produce into the daily diets of New Yorkers.”

The United Fresh Produce Association continues to be a leading advocate for the snack program nationwide, and the New York Apple Association under Mr. Allen’s leadership secured broad bipartisan support for the snack program from New York’s Congressional delegation.

Background on Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Snack Program

The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program aims to develop life-long healthy eating habits in school children by providing fresh fruits and vegetable snacks for free at schools across the country. The 2008 Farm Bill expanded this program to all 50 states due to its effectiveness in pilot schools and overwhelming bi-partisan support in Congress. The program is being administered by the New York State Department of Education’s Child Nutrition Program; New York schools are eligible to receive $1.7 million to implement this program during the 2008-2009 school year. The North Rose Elementary School has been allocated $24,750 for the current school year for its 330 students and is one of 51 schools funded in New York to implement this innovative program designed to improve child nutrition.