New equipment will see more Nova Scotia apples in local schools, hospitals

Nova Scotia is using local apples for school and hospital meals.

Nova Scotia apple growers will be able to get their produce into more schools, hospitals and care facilities, thanks to new slicing and packaging equipment in the province.

The Nova Scotia government announced Thursday that a new apple slicer and processing line is now operating at The Station Food Hub Company in Newport Station, N.S.

According to its website, The Station Food Hub Company is a “social purpose business that adds value to local food with a focus on ‘perfectly imperfect’ food sources.” It said it takes produce that would have otherwise been wasted and upcycles it, turning it into a “usable, high-quality, sustainable product.”

“Just because it doesn’t make it to the grocery store doesn’t mean it’s not valuable and useful to a farmer and for people to eat,” said Emily Lutz, executive director of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association.

“One of the challenges of being in agriculture is you grow for a fresh market, but you have lots of product and produce that doesn’t necessarily meet the great standards that you can sell to a grocery store. So, it’s essential in agriculture to have those secondary markets for things like pies, juice, applesauce, and as we see today, sliced apples.”

The Nova Scotia government said the new equipment has increased the volume of apples processed from 30 cases per day to as many as 300.

“Each case provides about 180 servings, and more cases will enable fresh, local apple slices to be included in the Nova Scotia School Lunch Program and in other institutional settings,” said the province.

“Thanks to support from the Department of Agriculture, the apple line and local apple slices have become our third anchor product,” said Rebecca Tran, founder of The Station Food Hub Company.

“Alongside frozen vegetables and preserves, we can now offer a fresh product that expands opportunities for local growers and brings more Nova Scotia products into public institutions.”

Minister of Agriculture Greg Morrow was joined by local apple growers and students from Three Mile Plains District School at The Station Food Hub Company for Thursday’s announcement. The students learned how apples make their way from Nova Scotian orchards, participated in an agriculture learning session and sampled fresh, local apple slices at the event.

“It is important to farmers in Nova Scotia that what they work so hard to grow is accessible to be enjoyed by people in their own communities,” said Emily Lutz, executive director of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association. “What better feeling when visiting a school or hospital than to know your snack has a good chance of being grown close to home, thanks to this investment, and the good folks at The Station Food Hub Company.”

The Department of Agriculture provided $25,000 through the Institutional and Supplier Investment Program and $72,045 through the Institutional Development Expansion and Advancement program so The Station Food Hub Company could purchase the new slicing and packaging equipment.

The province said the initiative supports its goal of having 20 per cent of food used in public institutions sources locally.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page