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School Snacks

Posted 8/26/2009 11:08pm by Lyndon Hartz.

Good Food For Schools
By Good Earth Food Alliance Grower, Amy Brucker

First it was the chocolate zucchini bread. My 8-year old daughter had made the mistake of telling the kids at the lunch table that she was eating something with a vegetable in it. Then it was the catastrophic strips of green pepper discovered only days later. Before long, she was begging me not to put any vegetables in her lunch box and would only allow a short list of fruits. It wasn't that she didn't like eating them. It was that the other kids didn't like her eating them.

It seems that kids and vegetables part ways when school starts up each fall. School lunch programs offer the obligatory vegetable and fruit (in my day, ketchup was considered the vegetable!) but Mom isn't standing there to make sure it goes down. The busy-ness of the school schedule and the parent's work schedule often set the stage for meals of convenience in the evening. I wonder how many meals consumed by busy families each week actually contain the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables?

I don't remember as far back as elementary school, but I do remember vegetables being served at the dining hall in college. Broccoli, in particular, was the color of faded army-green pants and it flopped over double when the food service employee picked it up with tongs and placed it on my plate. It usually landed in a clump. It's no surprise, then, that my love affair with vegetables didn't start until many years after college. In fact, it didn't start until I began to plant seeds in my backyard, tend to my own plants, harvest the fruits crisp and juicy, and quickly devour them. Fresh vegetables, especially those just picked, are the means of change for those who loathe anything green.

The Illinois State Board of Education came up with a great idea. Through their Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, elementary schools can receive funds to purchase FRESH fruits and vegetables that are offered at times other than meal times. So, when the kids come in from recess in the morning, they can grab an apple or a pear to eat. As they line up for music class in the afternoon, they can snack on some carrots. Some of us are hopeful that kids will eventually try some lesser known veggie snacks like edamame and grape tomatoes. What's the next step after that? Teach the kids to grow their own!

My daughter started at the community college this week and guess what she packed for a snack? Fresh sweet pepper strips from the garden! Some things never change - thank goodness.

to Good Earth Food Alliance CSA Members:

arugula, edamame, tomatillos - lots of new foods this week means lots of new recipes. Check out what's been recently added to the recipe page.
Basil's Harvest will be selling cuts of lamb this week. Because the packages are of varying weights, the invoices will only be approximations of the actual cost. So, hold off on writing out your check until you pick up your order on Tuesday, September 1st. The Place An Order webpage will be open again Thursday evening for business.