On 7 October, the CoR Plenary session approved the opinion of Mr Žagunis, Member of Panevėžys District Municipal Council; Mayor, on the aid scheme for the supply of fruit and vegetables, bananas and milk in educational establishments. Mr Žagunis calls for ensuring children get a diverse range of locally produced fruit,veg,bananas,milk and a healthy diet.
Apart from their economic importance, both school schemes are beneficial in the public health context and are suitable for distribution to school children. Despite different health and agricultural promotion efforts to increase consumption, the declining trends have not been reversed, showing certain weaknesses in the design and functioning.
Mr Žagunis said "I am critical of the proposal under the new scheme to limit milk distribution to drinking milk, and considers that minimally-processed milk products without harmful additives – natural (unsweetened) milk products such as yoghurt or fresh cheeses – should also be eligible for aid". Accordingly, "I would like to suggest, in view of the diversity existing within Europe, considering the introduction of additional criteria on which to base national allocations for the school milk and fruit scheme".
