On May 13, 2002 the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-171) initiated the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Pilot in 4 States and 1 ITO: Iowa, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and New Mexico–Zuni ITO.  Participating schools provide free fresh fruits and vegetables outside of the regular meal services to all students.

The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) was authorized as a permanent program under the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-265, June 30, 2004)

The Act added 4 States and 2 ITOs: Washington, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Mississippi, South Dakota-ITO Oglala Sioux Tribe, Arizona ITO-Gila River Pima Community and Tohona O’odham.

The permanent program was created, in part, because of the success of the 2002/2003 Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Project which assisted in providing more nutritional snack options for school children in participating schools in the pilot states. 

Both the pilot States and the States added under 108-265 are funded at $9 million annually beginning with Fiscal Year 2005. The FFVP operates in 14 States and 3 Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs). 

On Nov. 10, 2005, the President signed HR 2744 into law (Public Law 109-97).  This added Utah, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut, and Idaho to the existing FFVP. These States were funded at $6 million for one year only. However, the expenditure deadline extended to June 30, 2008 for these States.

• Each State selects 25 schools to participate and a total of 25 schools were selected among the 3 ITOs.   States selected schools based on the criteria in the law and guidance from USDA.  The total number of schools currently participating is 375.

• Per school funding is calculated based on enrollment figures which resulted in approximately $100 per student benefit per year in schools with 100 or fewer students.  The remaining funds are divided equally among all other participating schools with an approximate per student allocation which ranges from $79 to $82 per student.