One of the hot topics in the past few years had been healthy foods in schools. Now the fundraising products that have been traditionally available for schools have not been so healthy! Candy bars have been the biggest product sale fundraiser for 30 years or so. Lots of kids over the years have sold sweets to raise funds for all kinds of school groups.
It could be argued that kids will probably eat a candy bar anyway, so why not use them as a fundraiser? There are many schools where candy bar sales are still allowed. However, Federal laws require school districts have a wellness policy. This mostly affects lunch and physical education. But many schools have also put into place more restrictions regarding foods available at school.
Linda Strean in her great article Beyond the Food Fights: Helping Schools Get Healthy points out that:
A number of states and school districts have laws or policies that are much stricter than what the federal government requires. San Francisco, for example, already had a “no empty calories” policy that not only barred junk food but required all snack foods sold on campus to add nutritional value to student diets. Fresh fruit grown locally was added to the menu in school lunch and breakfast programs in 2006, thanks to a partnership among local organizations and local foundation support.
So for many schools the policy includes snacks sold at school, whether from the snack machine or through a school fundraiser.
There are quite a few school fundraisers that can be health-wise. Like mentioned in the above article, partnering with local businesses, grocery stores and others can help. Perhaps your group can sell locally grown produce? A pumpkin sale at halloween or watermelon sale for spring and summer sports.
There are also companies that provide food fundraisers that are on the healthy side. You may also be able to find some of these healthy alternative at your local Sam’s or Costco at good prices that would be okay for resale at concession stands and school lunch counters.
Here are a few examples of healthy foods for school fundraisers:
- Private labeled bottled water
- Fruit
- Nuts
- Trail Mixes
- Snack bars
- Popcorn
You might be thinking, “why not just do a non-food fundraiser?” There are lots of other good fundraisers, like school events, auctions, candles and many others. You should consider those fundraisers in addition to or instead of food fundraiers. The advantage of food fundraisers is that, well, everyone has to eat! They don’t have to burn a candle. 
Find healthy food items that your group can sell as a fundraiser and you can add valuable funds to your school group’s account.
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