Get tuck in at school, says new guide

Wednesday 23 January 2002

They may evoke images of midnight feasts in Enid Blyton books, but school tuck shops could be staging a comeback – thanks to a Food Standards Agency bid to get youngsters eating more fruit.

A new guide to setting up primary school tuck shops gives parents, teachers and pupils tips on how to set one up.

The 14-page guide, being published by FSA Wales, covers issues such as stock control, marketing, staffing, and profits.

It also points out that as well as promoting healthy eating, fruit tuck shops have other benefits for pupils.

As one headteacher points out, selling fruit for 15p helps five-year-olds grapple with arithmetic.

And putting reliable ten-year-olds in charge of running the shop helps them learn how to handle responsibility.

The FSA recently sponsored research that looked at getting children to eat more healthily, by using initiatives such as school tuck shops.

A project at two Dundee primary schools involving more than 500 children used characters from the Bash Street Kids comic strip to promote increased availability of fruit and vegetables through school tuck shops and school lunch options.