Make Healthy School Lunches as Easy as 1, 2, 3 With Tree Top

SELAH, WA--(Marketwire - Jul 27, 2011) - Getting kids to eat healthy can be easier said than done, especially when it comes to school lunches. Between deciphering serving sizes and the USDA MyPlate nutrition guidelines -- not to mention packing something children will actually eat -- providing a healthy school lunch can be a daily challenge.

With convenient, single-serving juice boxes and apple sauce cups, Tree Top makes it easy to send kids back to school with a nutritious item for lunch every day.

Tree Top's juice and apple sauce provide a full day's supply of vitamin C, and contain important antioxidants, which can help prevent your children from catching colds and flu. Plus Tree Top's apple sauce cups also contain dietary fiber. Busy parents will appreciate the convenience of the single-serving containers, which pack easily into a school lunchbox.

"The USDA's new MyPlate is a great illustration of how to incorporate healthy foods into our diets. Traditionally, however, some parents have found it difficult to decipher what constitutes a serving size for their growing children," said Deanna Segrave-Daly, RD, LDN. "With these guidelines, it's easy to see how Tree Top juice and apple sauce can help fulfill a child's daily requirements while giving parents an easy go-to option during the morning rush of packing lunches."

For most school-aged children, the USDA's MyPlate recommends at least one-and-a-half cups of fruit, with two cups recommended for teenage boys. Any fruit or 100 percent fruit juice is included in the USDA's recommendations.

Tree Top Apple Sauce
Tree Top apple sauce containers equal a half-cup of fruit that most kids enjoy from the first spoonful. Four-ounce cups are sold in packages of six -- just enough for a full week of school and a quick snack on the weekend. Tree Top's apple sauce cups don't require refrigeration and are packed with apples grown in U.S. apple country. Tree Top apple sauce is available in a range of flavors including natural (no sugar added), naturally sweetened with apple juice concentrate, organic, cinnamon and strawberry.

Tree Top Juice Boxes
Tree Top juice boxes are filled with 100 percent fruit juice and come in five flavors so parents can keep the lunchbox interesting with a new flavor every day of the school week. Along with Tree Top's signature apple juice, kids can enjoy combinations like apple berry, apple fruit punch, apple grape and apple pear.

At 6.75 ounces, each juice box gives most kids more than half their fruit servings for the day. "For busy parents, these are quick and healthy snacks to serve kids," added Segrave-Daly. "Parents can feel confident that they are helping to meet the USDA MyPlate fruit guidelines and also giving their kids something tasty and convenient."

About Tree Top
Since 1960, Tree Top has provided premium, quality juices, fruit-based products and ingredients to consumers and most of the world's leading manufactures. The grower-owned co-operative operates seven processing facilities in the heart of Washington's apple country, Oregon and California. With more than 1,000 growers, the co-op creates the widest array of fruit-based products and ingredients available on the market. Tree Top's passion and attention to quality and craftsmanship make it the first choice for consumers. For more information, visit www.treetop.com.