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Vernon college students ensure no bad apple gets left behind

With fall season here, the time is ripe for apple picking and for Vernon Okanagan College students, the normally quaint fall activity is serious business.
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Students from Vernon Okanagan College have begun picking apples for the Fruit Snaps project. (Photo submitted)

With fall season here, the time is ripe for apple picking and for Vernon Okanagan College students, the normally quaint fall activity is serious business.

Students have taken to the orchards to pick apples for their FruitSnaps project—a project that provides a purpose in life for bad apples.

FruitSnaps sees unwanted fruit get picked before it goes to waste. The apples are then dehydrated to make Fruit Snaps, a healthy snack that is then given to children in the community. The snacks are made of 100 per cent fruit with no added sugars or preservatives.

There are a lot of apples this time of year, and volunteers are always needed. The students will be out again on Sunday, Sept. 29.

A team of business students at the College came up with the idea for the project, which took top spot at the Scotiabank Environmental Challenge in March. Vernon’s Macy Burke, Karsten Ensz, Abby Lagerquist and Mitchell Vanlerberg piloted the project last fall, working with the Okanagan Indian Band to provide a daycare facility with 450 servings of FruitSnaps.

READ MORE: Codling moths remain a problem for Okanagan apple growers

READ MORE: How do you get rid of fruit flies?


Brendan Shykora
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Brendan Shykora

About the Author: Brendan Shykora

I started as a carrier at the age of 8. In 2019 graduated from the Master of Journalism program at Carleton University.
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