Good grub, with no reservations
Kitchen manager Lois Sauberan spent the night worrying that the kids at her school wouldn’t take the new treats. As it turned out, she shouldn’t have given it a thought.
On Monday, the first day Lakes Middle School distributed free fruit and vegetables, students walked the hallways while munching on yellow apples, read while snacking on oranges, and lined up for cups of fruit and vegetables. Meanwhile, a nearby vending machine stood unused.
“It’s awesome for something to eat in the morning,” sixth-grader Christian Smania said of his snack, a cup of sliced orange. “It wakes you up a bit.”
Haily Bisher, another sixth-grader, was one of the few to pick a vegetable cup. She opted for pea pods and olives. “It’s good because we get to eat food. I love food.”
Added sixth-grader Alyssa Marlow, who picked kiwi: “We’re actually eating nutritious snacks.”
That’s precisely why Congress adopted the fruit and vegetable program in 2004. In its pilot stage, the program was wildly successful in getting children to eat more healthy foods. Students ate 93 percent of servings offered, according to a report submitted to Congress. Whether that will translate into lifelong habits remains to be seen.
The program is being added in a few new states annually, including Idaho this year. Lakes was one of 25 schools statewide to be awarded the U.S. Department of Agriculture grant for the program. The state’s education department wants to track whether the consumption of fruit and vegetables will improve student test scores.
Sauberan was reassured after seeing middle-schoolers reach for the fruit, emptying trays set out throughout the school.
The vegetables didn’t get as good a reception – chopped beets, pea pods and olives remained fairly untouched – but Sauberan is a strong believer in introducing new foods to children.
A case in point: One sixth-grader pointed to honeydew and asked what it was. Sauberan encouraged her to try it.
“They just have to taste it,” she said. “At this age, they’re shy about trying new stuff.”
Later in the semester, Lakes administrators are hoping to offer fruit smoothies and vegetable pizzas once a week, put fruit baskets on teachers’ desks during the day, and invite nutritionists to speak at assemblies.
For now, fruits and vegetables will be available during third period, which is when announcements are made and students get individual reading time, and at the end of school as kids get ready to load onto buses.
Those two times, Principal Chris Hammons said, are “when they definitely have the munchies.”
Linda Turner, food services director for the district, wants to take advantage of kids’ cravings to get them to eat better. “They’re hungry and if they have it handy, they’ll eat it,” she said.