Dillsburg, PA — While the exact count won't be known until the end of November, as many as 750,000 Pennsylvania students participated in the 2006 GREAT PA APPLE CRUNCH. For students in Pennsylvania schools, it was one of the biggest APPLE day's ever! Schools from Northeast to Philadelphia, Scranton to Pittsburgh and everywhere in between were involved in an initiative to encourage students to consumer apples, a healthy portion of any diet.

Across Pennsylvania, students participated in the third annual Great PA Apple Crunch to focus attention on learning to live healthy lifestyles - in fun, creative ways - while incorporating apples as part of a healthy diet.

Activities varied from school to school and included a designated reading time while crunching apples, tasting various varieties of apples that are not usually available in the supermarket, dressing the teacher as an apple tree to learn about growing fruit, relays to educate students in "where their food comes from"… the farm, classroom activities for math, science and reading that involved apples, and apples on the school lunch menu - including fresh cut apple slices.

At several schools, local orchardist shared their love for the apple business, providing first hand experiences of what it takes to grow apples and provide the consumer with the best quality fruit.

"We expect to hear from the foodservice directors that meal participation increased on the day of the Great PA Apple Crunch. They tell us that any time they add apples, they have more students eating the school lunch." said Kay Rentzel, Director of the National Apple Month Program, which assisted in conducting the state-wide event.

Many schools involved staff and parent volunteers extending the "Apples are Healthy" message to the community. Additionally, newsletters and breakfast/lunch calendars provided healthy recipes and meal ideas that included both fresh apples and apple products.

The event was sponsored by Pennsylvania Advocates for Nutrition & Activity (PANA) and funded in part by the PA Department of Agriculture, the PA Apple Marketing Board, and a foodservice provider The Nutrition Group. The Crunch event also received support from Appeeling Fruit, AmeriHealth Mercy, National Apple Month, various food distributors and Giant Food Stores.