Eric M. Bost, a U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary, shared a lunch with local students yesterday of taco salad, oranges and low-fat chocolate milk. And he shared some advice, too:

Eat your fruits and vegetables.

	John Beale, Post-Gazette Fort Pitt Elementary School pupils De'ajaih Harris, 8, left, and Ausha'lae Jenkins, 8, eat lunch yesterday with Eric Bost, who heads up the nation's school lunch program. Bost was at the school to announce a $1 million grant for 25 schools to help children learn to eat more fruits and vegetables. Click photo for larger image.

Bost's visit to Fort Pitt Elementary School in Garfield kicked off the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program in Pennsylvania. The USDA has awarded $1 million to the state Department of Education for the program, which will encourage better eating habits and healthier lifestyles.

Fort Pitt and three other local schools are among 25 statewide that will receive free servings of dried fruits and fresh fruits and vegetables for all students each school day, in addition to existing school breakfast and lunch programs.

The other Pittsburgh public schools involved in the program are Arthur J. Rooney Sr. Middle School in Brighton Heights, Carmalt Academy of Science and Technology in Brookline and the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Downtown.

The program will officially launch today.

"The objective is to expose children to healthy food items," said Pat Birkenshaw, director of child nutrition programs for the state Department of Education.

The USDA chose eight states and three American Indian reservations to participate in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. Pennsylvania was selected because of its high rate of obesity, Bost said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 24 percent of the state's population is obese.

"This program ... [moves] children in this country toward a healthier lifestyle," Bost said. Birkenshaw said the composition of the schools selected for the program mirrored those of the state.

Fort Pitt was chosen because of its emphasis on physical activity and nutritional awareness. Nearly 340 students, in Head Start to fifth grade, engage in some form of physical recreation every day.

The program allows each school to develop its own plan for distributing the fruits and vegetables to its students. Fort Pitt will offer the snacks to students in the cafeteria following their physical education classes.

"Healthy bodies and healthy minds make for excellent learners," said Verna Arnold, Fort Pitt's principal.

Carmalt will have a similar plan, while CAPA may incorporate the fruits and vegetables in the vending machines, said Danny Seymour, director of food service for the Pittsburgh school district.

Whether the program is successful or not will be determined, for now, by anecdotal evidence. In the future, Pittsburgh schools hope the proof will come through the students.

"We're trying to see if kids are more attentive in the classroom and have higher achievement," Seymour said. "Hopefully, we'll see the benefits of student achievement as a part of good nutrition."

Officials also hope the benefits of good nutrition will transfer into healthier habits at home, and that the students may be able to influence what's on their parents' shopping lists.

"Kids are introduced to new and different fruits and vegetables like kiwi, starfruit and pomegranate," Bost said, "and the kids may have an influence on their parents when they talk about what they had at school today.

"Parents have to take some responsibility too," he added. "We want them to take a much more active role in their kid's nutrition."

Roughly 1,700 students in Pittsburgh and 16,000 children across the state are expected to benefit from the program.