Last updated on September 22nd, 2015 at 05:13 pm
American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) President and CEO Kraig Naasz expressed support for bipartisan legislation recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that will enable elementary schools to serve a full range of healthy fruit and vegetable snacks.
Introduced by Reps. Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine) and Kurt Schrader (D-Oregon), the “Fruit and Vegetable Access for Children Act” (House Resolution 3532) expands the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Fruit and Vegetable Program to allow schools to serve all forms of fruit and vegetables as snacks, including frozen items. Currently the program restricts schools to serving only raw produce.
Naasz said, “As confirmed by Frozen Food Foundation-commissioned nutritional studies conducted by the Universities of Georgia and California-Davis, frozen fruits and vegetables are as rich in nutrients, and often more so, than fresh-stored produce. Considering their nutritional content along with their availability, affordability and functionality, it’s easy to see why school nutritionists from across the country have been clamoring for the opportunity to offer frozen fruits and vegetables to the kids they serve. We look forward to working with school nutritionists and other stakeholders to ensure this expanded program is approved by Congress and signed into law by President Obama, which will help USDA meet its own Dietary Guidelines for Americans that encourage the consumption of frozen fruits and vegetables.”
