Can’t afford the organic fruit at Whole Foods in this economy? If you’re a kid in California, Fruit Tree Tours‘ new victory orchards could give you a welcome break from the usual cafeteria food and help you get your 5-a-Day in the coming years.

 

This year, Fruit Tree Tours includes more than 1,000 fruit trees, 75 drums and 25 volunteers who will travel around California on a fleet of buses that run on 100 percent recycled veggie oil and have solar arrays on their rooftops. Tour volunteers say they plant fruit trees in under-served neighborhoods “where liquor stores outnumber fresh food grocers and a disproportionate number of students rely on state-funded meal programs to meet their basic nutritional needs.”

 

In addition to the plantings, volunteers educate students and community members about environmental issues through a “Green Theater” performance featuring big puppets. Plus, there’ll be communal drumming and eco hip-hop — whatever that is — involved.

 

Fruit Tree Tours is a project of Common Vision, a nonprofit project of International Humanities Center. The three-month tour began earlier this month and will hit public schools and community centers all over California, including Chico, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay area, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Ventura.

 

 

Learn more about Fruit Tree Tours by watching the six-minute video above, then find out when the tour’s coming to your ‘hood on this calendar, or follow Fruit Tree Tour’s progress on Twitter.