School milk funding renewed for 2019/2020 academic year

An EU scheme to fund milk, fruit and vegetables to school children has agreed to continue funding the School Milk Scheme in the UK for the academic year 2019/2020.

The EU Commission published its budget allocations along with its annual evaluation report on the School Fruit, Vegetables and Milk Scheme. €105 million was allocated milk and other dairy products out of €250 million to the scheme in total, which is a €5 million increase for milk from the 2017/18 scheme.

The report also found that in 2017/2018 around 159,000 schools participated in the Scheme, and 178 million litres of milk were distributed to children across the European Union.

Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan said: “Thanks to the EU School Scheme, our young citizens can benefit from the nutritious, safe and high quality food that our European farmers produce, while also learning about where it comes from. The Commission is proud to contribute to this important educational journey, establishing healthy habits from a young age.”

Dr Hilary Jones, spokesperson for the School & Nursery Milk Alliance, said: "Milk is a healthy and delicious snack for our growing children, and has been shown to help address pertinent issues such as child dental decay and obesity. It is great news that school pupils across the UK will continue to enjoy milk and its benefits as they learn to eat healthily and look after themselves. It is imperative that the UK devises a replacement to this scheme for after the UK leave the EU and this scheme."