Free Fruit for U.K. Kids Contains Pesticides (Wait, U.K. Kids Get Free Fruit?)

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When I learned that most free fruit for schoolchildren in the U.K. contains residue from pesticides, I didn’t know quite how to react. I mean, pesticides in food is always bad news for sure. Yet I can’t help but think that free fruit for kids is a pretty good idea (and one that we haven’t managed to pull off in the U.S.).

Then again, maybe I’m wrong. From a Child Health News article on the topic:

Critics say the scheme was always unlikely to work because making fruit and vegetables available at school break time has no place in a culture in which healthy food is considered ‘uncool’ and they say stories abound of children forlornly wandering around the school playground with a bucket of fruit, trying to dispose of it.

Conclusion: Even if the free fruit were organic, it would still need some serious PR work.

Fact:

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