| All-natural snacks tasty treat for Hobgood students |
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By: MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer
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Posted: Sunday, May 17, 2009 7:27 am
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Hobgood Cafeteria Manager Kimberly Young holds a tray of Braeburn apples outside the lunchroom at the school. Young provides healthy snacks for students through funding from the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program. TMP/Michelle Willard
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Strawberries, blackberries, apples and even mangos are some of the healthy snacks provided to the students at Hobgood Elementary through a special grant from the Tennessee Department of Education.
The healthy snacks are part of a grant from the Tennessee Department of Education’s Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program.
“These kids are used to apples, but not different kinds,” Hobgood Principal Barbara Sales explained. Now the kids know the difference between many apple varieties – like Braeburn, Pink Lady and ambrosia apples.
Some students have even started asking their parents to buy more fruit at the store, Hobgood Cafeteria Director Kimberly Young said, noting two students talked their parents into buying grapefruits after she offered them as a snack.
The program, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, allows schools to purchase, prepare and distribute fresh fruits and veggies at no charge to elementary and middle school students.
“Healthy habits that are encouraged early on can stay with a child through adulthood,” Tennessee School Nutrition Director Sarah White said. “The earlier we can start teaching students about healthy eating, the better chance they will live a healthy lifestyle.”
The program is available for schools serving a majority of at-risk students. Around 90 percent of Hobgood’s student population uses the free and reduced lunch program. “This gives them the opportunity to have foods that their parents can’t afford,” Young said.
The fruit is available, free of charge, to students outside the cafeteria at Hobgood all day.
Sales said the school also uses the fruit and veggies as a backdoor vocabulary lesson by having Young address the students every morning and describe the taste and texture of each fruit.
For example, Braeburn apples are sweet and tart, while Pink Lady apples are more tart and crisp. But the students don’t eat just apples.
Young has tried mangoes, which took too long to prepare for the student body of 350. She even tried out Star fruit, which didn’t go over well. And earlier this week she introduced the students to ugli fruit (a cross between a grapefruit and a tangelo). “I’m thinking about it everyday,” Young said.
She’ll even pick up new fruits at the grocery store and try them at home before introducing them to the students. This started after it took her hours to peel and prepare the mangoes.
Young said the students’ reaction to the free fruit has been the most surprising part of the program. “Several times the kids surprise me by thanking me,” she said. “One little boy thanks me every day.”
Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com. |
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