Articles
Fresh from the Farm: New Season, New Twists
By Dana Demas
"It tastes like a plant!"
- Student at St. Ann Catholic School tasting basil for the first time
The Fresh from the Farm program is springing ahead with school gardens, parent education programs and teacher trainings at four Chicago schools. SGA’s Nancy Morgridge and Lauren Johnson gave us the scoop on what’s new in the healthy eating program that combines food facts with fun!
Kids
Children at St. Ann Catholic School in Pilsen are planting their first school garden this spring. Three 4’x8’ beds will be seeded in May with a variety of fruits and vegetables. The students and their parents will help tend the garden over the summer.
Along with planting and caring for the garden, which gives kids a tangible connection to their food from seed to harvest, they’re also learning an “Eating the Colors of the Rainbow” curriculum inside the classroom, which teaches the importance of eating all of the colors of the rainbow, everyday. Each week focuses on a different color through taste-testings and simple snack preparations. Kids just learned about the yellow and orange group, with squash.
Parents
At McCormick Elementary School in Little Village, parents are getting fact-based nutrition information for healthy eating guidelines in a time of confusing and often conflicting information. At the first meeting, parents tasted and learned how to prepare a healthy breakfast of yogurt with fresh mango or papaya.
Parents also learned “How to Change the Real Estate of Your Plate,” to boost vegetables and reduce meat and starches at meals. The goal was to teach parents that they don’t have to give up the foods they usually eat, but balance them by reducing portion sizes and including more vegetables.
Teachers
Teachers at St. Ann are learning the “Calories In, Calories Out” lesson to introduce in their classrooms. Students will create a paper cut-out of their favorite food, like pizza, with a nutritional label on the back detailing caloric and other nutritional information. They’ll calculate how much physical activity is needed to burn off the calories, and run the appropriate number of laps or do push-ups to understand the relationship between calories and weight gain.
In May, all of the schools will make a farm visit to the Green Earth Institute in St. Ann Catholic School, Illinois.
For more information about Fresh from the Farm, visit the Fresh from the Farm section of this site or contact Gary Cuneen, Executive Director, 708.660.9909.
