AN APPLE A DAY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 284, 17 March 1941, Page 5

AN APPLE A DAY

FREE ISSUE IN SCHOOLS

SUPPLY FOR WHAKATANE

Children attending school in the Whakatnne district and also in ail other parts of the Dominion are to receive a free appie each day for three months and a commencement of the scheme will be made in this town this week. The scheme has been organised, by tile Internal Marketing Division which advised the Education Department to notify school committees and head teachers to indicate if the proposal was desired. The headmaster of the local school, Mr C. G. Southcy, has forwarded a letter intimating ills school's desire to participate in the scheme, and states that a questionnaire sent out to parents asking for their acceptance of the idea has resulted in a one hundred per cent approval. In making the announcement the Minister said: "It is hoped that parents will regard these apples as being additional to any fruit which children Avould ordinarily be given in their lunches or at home. I make this point as the. scheme is being introduced not only fori the health and benefit of the children, but also as a war measure to assist in the consumption of apples which will soon be iu surplus supply owing to the lack of shipping facilities for export. "If for every apple that is supplied at school one less is eaten at home the scheme will not help the children, the Government, the growers or anybody." An appeal to the public to buy apples and pears has been issued by the Minister of Marketing, the( Hon. J. G. Barclay. He said the fruit industry had been deprived of its export market and its economic stability had been threatened. The Government had guaranteed to purchase all marketable grades of fruit and it was now up to the general public to make sure that all the fruit would be consumed within the country.