It’s often been a challenge to get a child to eat vegetables. But a national study says one new effort in the schools appears to be backfiring. Starting in 2012, children on the federal free and reduced-price lunch program must now choose 2 and a-quarter cups, total, of fruits and vegetables, up from three-fourths of a cup. And Public Health Reports says consumption has actually dropped 13-percent and 56-percent more of students throw it away. But in the Grass Valley Elementary School District, Child Nutrition Services Director Suzanne Grass says her students are eating more…

click to listen to Suzanne Grass

Nationally, the study says 40-percent of fruit is wasted. It’s 60 to 75-percent of vegetables….

click to listen to Suzanne Grass

The study says the waste each child was producing went from a quarter-cup to more than 39-percent of a cup per meal.