First herring proceeds of the year to be donated toward healthy food for school kids

The first barrel of Hollandse Nieuwe herring will be auctioned in June, and the proceeds will go towards promoting healthy eating for primary school children. The traditional donation of the proceeds will go to the “Healthy Primary School of the Future” campaign by the organization JOGG.

The organization wants primary schools to offer more healthy lunches to children. They also want children to do more sporting activities during the day. This campaign started at eight primary schools in Limburg.

These proceeds will likely be used to extend the campaign to other schools in the country. The Dutch Fish Marketing Board, the organizer of the auction, think that herring could be an “important element” in a healthy school lunch.

The auction will take place on June 17. It is the annual symbolic start to the new herring season. The first barrel of herring raised 81,000 euros for the Netherlands Brain Bank last year.

In 2023, the first barrel was auctioned for a record fee of 159,500 euros. This came a year after the previous record had been broken with a fee of 113,500 euros.