Deputy Louise Doublet said she thought the cost of living was not taken into consideration in the decision

A Jersey politician said she thought cost-of-living pressures were not considered by the government when it chose to end a trial of free fruit in primary schools.

Since 2024 children in four primary schools have been able to get apples, bananas and other fruit as part of the pilot scheme.

Deputy Louise Doublet said: "To have that taken away at a time when the cost of living is still increasing I think has been quite hard for some families".

The education minister ended the trial because not enough children were eating the fruit and it was leading to a lot of wastage. The Government of Jersey has been approached for a comment.

The government announced in September fresh fruit would be included in a school food programme that provides hot school meals for government primary schools.

Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning Catherine Curtis previously said the free fruit scheme was leading to "a lot of wastage" and parents "actually asked" for fruit to be incorporated into the school food programme instead.

The topic was debated 29 September, external in the States Assembly.

Doublet said the minister had responded to her questions in the assembly "centred around the evidence and she informed the assembly that it hadn't resulted in much of an increase in children actually consuming fruit and vegetables and I do accept that".

But she added she did not think benefits in terms of cost of living were measured by the scheme.

"Personally I would like to see more investment in healthy food especially if it's locally grown food to help families with the cost of living," she said.

When asked about the contract with UK company Apetito Limited to provide hot school meals for government primary schools across Jersey she said it was the "best available option".

She added she understood people's concerns around the freshness of the food but her "understanding is that the meals are actually frozen rather than artificially preserved".

"I would like to see these funded meals extended further because it hits the cost of living for parents and... provides healthy meals for children," she said.

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