MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – When many Vermont school kids pass through the cafeteria line Tuesday they’ll be offered packages of sliced Vermont apples along with the usual fare.

The crisp fruit, which has a refrigerated shelf life of nearly three weeks, will be sold in about 250 schools and daycare programs around the state.

“They’re a great item,” said Scott St. John, food director for Cabot High School. “The kids love them. There’s no waste.”

On a larger scale, the Department of Agriculture and other apple producing New England states are marketing sliced-up apples to convenience stores as a nutritious snack.

“We hope the low-calorie apple slices will offer a convenient, healthier alternative to some of the junk food many people buy,” said Agriculture Secretary Steve Kerr.

Apple consumption has declined over the last 12 years, said Steve Justis, a marketing specialist and apple expert for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture.

“We’ve been on the lookout for some value-added products for apples for a while,” he said.

Fresh-cut produce is the fastest growing segment of the produce industry, Justis said. New technology and research has pushed up the shelf life of fruits and vegetables, he said.

McDonald’s restaurants has been selling apple slices for more than a year, using about 1 percent of the U.S. apple crop, Justis said.

“We’re hoping to ride the coattails a little bit on McDonald’s apple dippers,” Justis said.

The apples are treated with ascorbic acid or vitamin C to maintain their white color and texture. The slices are then packaged at a facility in Keesville, N.Y. and coded to signify which were grown in Vermont, Justis said.

This week schools will receive Empire apples from Sunrise Orchards in Cornwall.

The 2 ounces, which make up about half an apple, will sell for between 25 cents and $1, Justice said.

“They might be a little more expensive but they (students) like them better anyway,” St. John said. “Even adults would rather have those little bags of sliced apples.”