School fruit and veg project flops

Austrian schools have only claimed around a fifth of the 1.3 million euros made available as part of an EU project to provide kids with fresh fruit and vegetables. In a study in Salzburg local officials said that only five of the schools and about two dozen kindergartens had joined in with the program.

In total 1.3 million euros is paid by the EU potentially directly to Austrian schools. But only 260,000 euros were claimed he asked dear – needing more than 1 million unused according to the agriculture ministry.

The person responsible at Agrarmarkt Austria in Vienna, Andrea Da Siva Teixera, said she was also surprised about the lack of interest from schools and kindergarten managers in the school fruit programme.

She said all of the schools had been informed about the project
And believes the lack of claims will probably down to the fact that many schools despite the information packages may still not have realised what was on offer.

She said it also might be due to the fact that the schools, parent associations and local and regional councils were expected to provide half of the money.

In total an estimated 200 tons of fruit and vegetables were distributed at Austrian schools. Salzburg had the lowest take-up rate and Vorarlberg the highest.