EuroHealthNet responds to the EU school fruit, vegetables and milk scheme
Following the adoption of the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, rolling out of the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the European Child Guarantee, EU policies in the areas of sustainable food systems, public health, nutrition and the prevention of diet-related Non-Communicable Diseases have continued to evolve. The EU school fruit, vegetables and milk scheme, implemented in its current form since 2017, aims to enhance the consumption of products that contribute to healthy and sustainable diets, while teaching children about agriculture and food production.
In its consultation response, EuroHealthNet urges the review to maximise the scheme’s impact on fostering healthy and sustainable diets of EU children, starting already in early years and expanding on the scheme’s education themes to the entire food supply chain, to boost children’s health and food literacy (advertising, marketing, labelling). We recommend a proportionate universalism principle to be taken into account while the scheme’s design and implementation is taking place, that is to cover all (pre-) school children by stepping up the response and the offer to target socio-economically vulnerable children.