Three Jamestown elementary schools earned a Fresh Fruits and Vegetables grant to pay for healthy snacks during the school day. Officials said schools incorporate the snacks into the curriculum and expose students to radishes, mangos and other snacks they otherwise might never try.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded Lincoln, Roosevelt and Louis L'Amour elementary schools about $35,000 total for the 2010-2011 school year, said Shelley Mack, dietitian and food services director for Jamestown Public Schools. The school will serve the snacks each day to the nearly 600 kindergarten through fifth-graders.
The funds must be used for fruits and vegetables and for a snack, not as breakfast or lunch, Mack said. Schools qualify based on income eligibility -- if at least 50 percent of the students qualify for free and reduced meals the district can apply for the grant.
The schools must offer free fruits and vegetables to the students and must publicize the snacks to the students, according to the Department of Public Instruction.
Louis L'Amour Elementary qualified for the grant last year. With the money, Mack purchased blueberries, peas in the pod and avocados.
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"We had funds to purchase things that I never could," for the breakfast or lunch programs, Mack said.
The grant not only gives the students a healthy snack, but it also fills bellies that may otherwise be empty.
"A lot of times too, they're coming to school hungry," Mack said.
August through October, the district purchases most of the fruits and vegetables from vendors in Jamestown.
"We do as much local as we can," Mack said.
As part of the curriculum, Luella Morehouse, nutritional education assistant for the Family Nutrition Program through the North Dakota State University Extension Service, taught lessons to the students and sent newsletters home to parents. The students did trivia every week and played activities like bingo, Morehouse said.
"My kids are so excited to have it back. They loved it," said Vikki Coombs, principal and Louie L'Amour.
The range of snacks meant students tried foods they've never tasted. And that's the secret to healthy eating, Mack said: exposure.
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"You can change their eating habits, it's just very slowly," Mack said.
Some ways to increase variety in children's diets is to prepare meals with them or have them help in the garden or at the grocery store, Mack said.
One of the goals of the program is to get students to make healthy eating choices, Morehouse said.
"We need all kinds of food to get certain nutrients," she said.
In some cases, the students even encourage the parents to try new things, Morehouse said. One parent had told Morehouse her daughter would only eat apples and bananas until one day, she added a mango to the cart.
The mother bought it because the daughter was familiar with it and wanted to eat it at home, Morehouse said.
"So the child is encouraging the parents to buy that," she said.
Sun reporter Katie Ryan can be reached at 701-952-8454 or by e-mail at kryan@jamestownsun.com
