Lidl is offering £150,000 worth of digital cards to help teachers provide fresh produce to children in the classroom this upcoming school year.

This is part of the discounter’s nationwide expansion plans of its Lidl Foodies educational programme to cover children at primary schools.

Each of the vouchers is worth £100, which will allow primary school teachers to buy fresh fruit and vegetables for tasting sessions.

Additionally, Lidl teachers will be able to gain access to ready-to-use, 20-minute lesson plans and interactive classroom activities.

The scheme initially began for Year 1 and Year 2 pupils, and the Lidl Foodies programme will launch across new materials for children aged 8 to 11.

Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free

Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning

The digital tools will help to teach children around three main topics, sustainable farming, lowering food waste and the Planetary Health Diet.

Georgina Hall, director of corporate affairs at Lidl GB said: “Getting children excited about fresh, healthy food starts with practical experience in the classroom. Having already invested more than £1 million to reach a quarter of British primary schools, we know how powerful hands-on learning can be, but we need to do more.

“By putting £150,000 directly into the hands of teachers for classroom tasting sessions and opening up our resources to older primary pupils, we’re helping schools build positive, lifelong food habits for the next generation.”

The discount retailer has launched a dedicated healthy eating hub which contains all free teaching tools and grant application details.

This follows the success of the Lidl Foodies scheme, which has features in a quarter of all primary schools across Great Britain and has been supported by £1m in Lidl funding.