European school fruit scheme : a success story for children.
Date: 2013-03-12
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development
Subjects: child, educational institution, health education, human nutrition, nutritional disease, public awareness campaign, public health

Key figures for 
2010/11

8.1 million children beneﬁ ted 
(+ 70 % compared with 2009/10)

54 000 schools took part

24 Member States participated 

EUR 90 million of EU funding 

the target group was schoolchildren aged 
1 to 18 but many Member States mainly targeted 
children aged 6 to 10 

preferred products were fresh fruit and vegetables: 
apples, oranges, bananas, 
carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers …

Italy, Romania, Germany 
and Poland have been the main beneﬁ ciaries 
of these EU funds in recent years

Children enjoyed additional activities such as 
farm visits, school gardens, 
cooking sessions …

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What’s next?

In its CAP 2020 reform proposals, the Commission 
intends to further strengthen the scheme by 
raising the overall EU budget available for the 
scheme, increasing the rates of co-ﬁ nancing and 
extending the list of eligible measures.
This would allow even more children to beneﬁ t 
from this very popular scheme.  

Visit us at 
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/sfs/

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European Commission
Agriculture and Rural Development
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/index_en.htm 
http://bookshop.europa.eu/en/home/
The text of this publication is for 
information purposes only and 
is not legally binding
© European Union, 2012

  European School 
      fruit scheme

                A success story for children 

‘This is a positive programme aimed at helping 
children to develop good habits at an early age, 
which they carry into later life. It’s an investment 
against obesity in favour of a healthier lifestyle.’
Dacian Cioloș
European Commissioner for Agriculture 
and Rural Development

doi:10.2762/39098

Agriculture and 
Rural Development

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What is the 
European 
school fruit 
scheme?

The scheme, agreed by the Council in 2008 and fully 

supported by the European Parliament, is an important 

EU-wide initiative providing fruit and vegetables to 

schoolchildren. Its main objective is to increase the low 

consumption of fruit and vegetables among children by 

durably increasing the share of those products in their 

diets when their eating habits are being formed.

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Fruit and 
vegetable 
consumption 
— fighting 
overweight 
and obesity 
in the EU 

FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CONSUMPTION IN GRAMS PER DAY 

WHO/FAO minimum intake recommendation

800

600

400

200

0

Source: Monitor 2011 FRESHFEL EUROPE

The  World  Health  Organisation  recommends  eating  a  minimum  of 
400 g of fruit and vegetables a day to lower the risk of serious health 
problems. However, statistics show that Europeans do not eat enough 
fruit and vegetables. This is worrying considering the rising trends of 
overweight and obesity. 

It  is  estimated  that  more  than  half  of  the  adult  population  in  the 
European Union are overweight or obese. The situation is particularly 
worrying  when  considering  children  —  if  they  are  overweight  or 
obese at a young age, they will be at greater risk of poor health in 
adolescence and adulthood. On average, one in four children in the 
EU aged 6 to 9 years old were overweight or obese (measured data 
collected by WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative, 
COSI, 2008). 

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The success of 
the school fruit 
scheme: not 
only fruits, 
but lifestyle

The school fruit scheme is approaching its fourth 
year  of  application  since  its  launch  in  the 
2009/10  school  year.  The  scheme  is  much 
more than just simply a distribution of fruit 
and  vegetable  products  —  it  involves 
partners  from  the  agriculture,  public 
health  and  educational  sectors,  civil 
society and other relevant stakeholders.

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