By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
LYNBROOK Primary School students will be the last to learn about the lifecycle of an apple from apple growers themselves.
Fruit Growers Australia ‘Fruit for Life’ schools program co-ordinator Helene Armour has been delivering the information-packed fun fruity program for the past 15 years, but said she was disappointed it had come to an end.
“Over the years, 35 different fruit growers from southern Victoria have been involved in the program, which aims to get kids to eat fruit and teaches them about the life of an apple, how the apple tree is planted and grown, picked, pruned and put into a cool store,” Ms Armour said.
Ms Armour said the 30-minute sessions had been stalled due to a lack of funding.
“Horticulture Innovation Australia (HIA) is no longer funding local or regional promotions.
“That funding has paid for the educational showbags, booklets, DVDs and apples to be able to run the program,” Ms Armour said.
The not-for-profit, grower-owned research and development corporatio HIA was established after an independent review of Horticulture Australia Limited (HAL) in 2014.
HIA spokesperson Amy Braddon said the schools program was run by Fruit Growers Victoria and was previously funded under a grant from marketing levies.
“With the changes in the government’s Statutory Funding Agreement, HIA is unable to grant money to organisations,” Ms Braddon said.
The program was started with the help of Mornington Peninsula, Yarra Valley and Gippsland fruit growers and Ms Armour said some growers wanted to see it continue.
“Gippsland growers want to try and keep it going and were getting older and would like to see a younger generation continue with it, but there’s just no funding.
Ms Armour said over the years she had received a lot of positive feedback from schools after their visits.
“The schools have reported a real increase in kids eating apples which has continued long after our visit and that was our aim to foster a love for eating fresh apples for kids to set the habit early,” she said.
Grade 1 teacher at Lynbrook Primary School Suzanne Wilkinson said the program was extremely worthwhile.
“It delivered what schools are trying to preach to their students which are healthy eating habits, sustainability and promoting local products, and it’s wonderful when the people presenting it are so passionate,” Ms Wilkinson said.
Slinky apple corer and peelers were given to each class after the presentation along with showbags and apples for the students.
“I have had more students bringing in apples for play lunch than ever before, and it may be because of the novelty of the slinky, but it’s fantastic to see,” she said.
Executive officer at Fruit Growers Victoria Kath Boast said HIA was currently in a transition year, and growers were still getting used to the changes.
“Idealistically, HIA is helping to empower growers and they’re meant to have more of a say,” she said.
“HAL used to decide where the levy money would be spent, peak industry bodies have been removed which collected the levies from growers,” she explained.
Ms Boast said Fruit Growers Victoria didn’t collect levies and cannot fund the schools program alone.
“We don’t have a source of income to pay for the program, there is no income for us to do that and at the moment we can’t find out how HIA’s marketing levy is spent.
“We will see if we can find another way to fund the schools program, but we’ve had no luck so far,” she said.
To get a copy of the educational DVD made by the Fruit for Life team contact Fruit Growers Victoria on 5825 3700.
