Trick or treat? It's almost Hallowe'en and supermarkets have lavish displays of apples, oranges, grapes, pumpkins and coconuts as well as garish orange-and-black sweets, witch-shaped lollie and ghostly chocolates.

What will you buy? Well, we all know that fruit and veg are good for us, don't we?

But, did you know that, except for organic produce, untreated fruit and vegetables are generally unavailable in Ireland? Some tests have revealed high levels of post-harvest treatments on fruit and vegetables.

A new resource containing the information above, and lots more, should help make second-level students, and their teachers, more savvy consumers. Called Totally Consumed, it consists of a students' manual, a teacher's manual and a CD-ROM. It was launched yesterday by the Minister for Labour, Trade and Consumer Rights, Tom Kitt.

The new Leaving Cert home economics syllabus to be introduced next September will have a substantial consumer content.

Meanwhile, Transition Year teachers, Leaving Certificate Applied and Leaving Certificate Vocational teachers have been this month receiving in-service training on the use of a new resource - on Skills Work and Youth (SWAY). In general, the longer students stay in education the more they increase their chances of obtaining a better job. With lots of work available at present, students may feel tempted to drop out of school early. One of the aims of SWAY is to make students aware of the longer-term implications of leaving education early. The pack consists of six sections focusing on the world of work, workers' rights, health and safety, conflict in the workplace, young people and unions and young workers worldwide.

The pack includes a CD-ROM as well as a resource manual. The material was written by a practising teacher and produced by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in consultation with the senior cycle support services.