Arizona State University is studying how local schools and grocery stores can work together to promote fruits and vegetables and support healthy eating among children and families.

The goal of this pilot cluster clinical trial is to determine whether FFVP+, a public private partnership between elementary schools and regional Bashas' Food City stores, can used to support fruit and vegetable promotion among children and their caregivers. The study will include elementary school students and caregivers from elementary schools participating in the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

Can schools and Food City stores coordinate promotion of fruits and vegetables through the FFVP+ partnership?

Can we recruit and retain student and caregiver dyads and collect the planned measures across the school year?

Do children and caregivers in the FFVP+ schools consume more fruits and vegetables than schools not receiving this enhanced intervention.

Researchers will compare schools receiving FFVP+ to schools receiving the usual Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program only. This will help us understand whether the partnership is feasible, whether the recruitment and data collection procedures work, and whether the approach is ready to be tested in a larger trial.

Participants will:

Complete study visits at three time points during the school year

Complete surveys about fruit and vegetable intake, preferences, household food availability, and shopping practices

Have fruit and vegetable intake measured using a non-invasive Veggie Meter device

Have height and weight measured

Students will also have fruit and vegetable intake measured during school lunch using plate waste methods.