WASHINGTON, DC - Schools looking to provide their students with increased access to fresh fruits and vegetables are in luck, as the International Fresh Produce Association’s (IFPA) Foundation for Fresh Produce (FFP) is rolling out 10 new produce-focused breakfast recipes tailored specifically for the K-12 setting and school foodservice professionals.
“The development of these recipes will allow school foodservice professionals to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into school breakfast while aligning with the proposed school nutrition standards for added sugars, which are expected to begin in school year 2025–2026,” said Mollie Van Lieu, Vice President, Nutrition and Health, IFPA. “The recipes are versatile, feature flavors that students love, and are easy to incorporate into school breakfast menus no matter the age group.”
The recipes were developed in collaboration with Healthy School Recipes and are specifically designed to help school foodservice professionals meet the USDA’s new proposed updates to school nutrition standards for added sugar limits. As a press release explained, the recipes feature nutritional information as well as crediting information to align with meal pattern requirements, and guidance on serving these fruit- and vegetable-forward meals in a variety of school breakfast settings.
The foundation has also helped to establish the national Salad Bars to Schools initiative, in addition to hosting a K–12 School Forum programming track at IFPA’s annual Foodservice Conference and supporting networking and education opportunities for school nutrition leaders, culinary professionals, and industry buyers through Have A Plant® programming.
“School meals have undergone tremendous change in recent years, with many now serving a greater variety of fruit and vegetable options in our breakfast and lunch programs,” said Bertrand Weber, Director, Culinary and Nutrition Services at Minneapolis Public Schools. “Additionally, with a growing number of schools looking to incorporate more scratch-cooked meals, using whole food ingredients like fruits and vegetables, these breakfast recipes are being made available at the right time, and with their lower added-sugar, they are aligned with what our district and many others are trying to achieve for our students.”
The recipe toolkit is available for download in the Educational Resources section of fruitsandveggies.org here. For more information on the launch, click here.
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