North County’s pilot program is teaching students about nutrition and where food comes from.
The five-week Farm to School program is a partnership between the Escondido Union School District and the Farm to Institution Center, an initiative of local nonprofit Community Health Improvement Partners. Have elementary school children try vegetables they have never eaten before.
Bernardo Elementary Principal Jeremy Reich said, “Understanding the roots, no joke, of where our food comes from and how it gets to our plates is just such a powerful thing.” I think so,” he said. Today’s excitement. they love it. ”
Students in Paul Erickson’s class have been in the program for more than a month.
“We have multiple classes where we learn about and teach about local farms in the community, learning about healthier choices like produce and goods, and just getting students involved in farming,” Erickson said. Told.
Once a week for the past five weeks, Alexis Anderson from the Farm to Facility Center has been coming in to teach kids about agriculture and what it takes to get fresh produce to your table.
Wednesday was the last session of the program for the students. She said the main learning for the children is learning where their food comes from.
“And eating local and supporting local not only benefits the community economically, but also for their health and overall fair education by knowing what’s available. Because it’s profitable,” Anderson said.
The Farm to School program is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
After class on Wednesday, students played a game of bingo in the schoolyard to review what they had learned. One of the goals of the schoolyard is for students to try new things.
“I ate some carrots and lettuce, and I ate a lot more fruit,” said Katelyn Borecki, a student in the class.
But like the rainbow chard, not everything was as delicious as it looked.
Another student in the class, Adonis Konstantinovich, said: “The rainbow chard just tasted like lettuce, the golden berries were not very tasty, and the cotton candy grapes tasted like regular grapes.” he said.
Students also learned about food miles.
“Food miles are when food, like bananas, travels to far corners of the world,” Borecki said.
Anderson said it’s important for children to know where their food comes from and its impact on the environment, and why it’s important to support local farmers and local produce. He said it was important.
“It was being shipped all the way from California all the way around the world, and they were shocked by the distance,” she said. “I thought, ‘Okay, what’s the closest to you?’ And they’re like ‘Our Garden.’ So we went in and asked, “How many steps does it take to get to your garden?” And I think that just put it in perspective for them. ”
For the Escondido Union School District, the ultimate goal of the schoolyard is for the produce to eventually go to the cafeteria and be eaten by the children. But before that can happen, there are still some health regulations the district needs to overcome.
Meanwhile, the district is partnering with Dickinson Family Farms in Fallbrook to incorporate farm-fresh fruits and vegetables into its lunch menu.
