20 June 2005

Berries on the menu in Scottish schools

Normally synonymous with centre-court or "Henman Hill", Scottish school pupils will have the opportunity to enjoy a taste of Wimbledon next week when seven thousand punnets of Scottish strawberries are delivered to hundreds of schools throughout Scotland during this year's "Berries on the menu" week.

Now in its third year, this year's event is the biggest to date and almost 40,000 pupils across Scotland’s berry regions will enjoy a portion of local fruit during Berry Week.

Organised by the Scottish fruit promotion group, Berry Scotland, based at the Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research at the University of Dundee, Berry Week aims to increase the consumption of Scottish soft fruit in Scotland for the benefits of population health and the local berry industry.

'Berries on the menu' will run from 20th to 24th June when schools across Angus, Dundee City, Falkirk, Fife, Perth & Kinross and Stirling will serve the strawberries with the pupils' school meals on a nominated ‘Berry Day’ during the week.

The event has grown from an initial project to provide strawberries in Angus primary schools two years ago. Since then, the popularity of these locally grown berries has led to the project taking off and in some areas there has been a reported increase in school meal uptake of 10-15%. This year all the major berry growing areas of Scotland are taking part and providing the link between the fruit grown in the fields and the meals offered to the young people of these regions.

Berries have been found to contain higher levels of antioxidants than most other fruits and, being a Scottish crop, the health and economy of Scotland could be considerably improved if home grown strawberries, raspberries and blackcurrants become Scottish staple foods. In Scotland, levels of heart disease, stroke and cancer are among the highest in Europe and the Berry project hopes that by promoting the health benefits of soft fruit, it can also help increase the consumption of Scottish berries and improve the health of the Scottish population.

Professor Annie Anderson, Director of the Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research, University of Dundee explains, "2005 has seen increasing criticism of school meals south of the border. The Scottish berries in schools project, however, is an excellent example of innovation for the health of the next generation of Scots"

Worksheets and leaflets are available from www.berryscotland.com for pupils, parents and teaching staff interested in finding out more about Scottish fruit.

By Angela Durcan, Press Officer 01382 344768, out of hours: 07968298585, a.durcan@dundee.ac.uk