Harvest of the month offers kids a taste of local produce and
healthy eating
Kids are often known for being finicky eaters, but a program run
through the Community Alliance with Family Farmers has some local
students eating beets, bell peppers and kiwi fruit. On a recent
morning at the Hollister Dual Language Academy, students in Lilia
Espinoza’s third grade class asked questions of a parent volunteer
dressed in a kiwi costume.
Harvest of the month offers kids a taste of local produce and healthy eating
Kids are often known for being finicky eaters, but a program run through the Community Alliance with Family Farmers has some local students eating beets, bell peppers and kiwi fruit. On a recent morning at the Hollister Dual Language Academy, students in Lilia Espinoza’s third grade class asked questions of a parent volunteer dressed in a kiwi costume.
“Where do kiwis grow?”
“How do you get the seeds?”
“Why are they hairy?”
She answered most of the questions. Kiwis grow on a vine, and 95 percent of the kiwis grown in the U.S. are grown in California. One parent ventured a guess that kiwis are hairy to make them unattractive to birds or bugs that might want to eat them. As for how the small, slimy seeds are collected, no one was really sure.
After a short lecture, the students sat back at their desks to sample the green fruit. Most of the kids tried it and asked for seconds. They even tried the brown skin of the peel, which one student referred to as like “cardboard.”
After trying the fruit, the kids completed a sensory worksheet where they described the look, smell, feel and taste of the kiwis.
The Hollister Dual Language Academy, the Montessori School, the YMCA after school program and others are taking part in the Harvest of the Month club, a program that provides a taste of locally-grown produce as well as state-approved curriculum to be used in the classroom. The teacher and parent volunteers receive fact sheets about the fruit that they can incorporate into their lesson plans once a month. The students also receive a newsletter they can take home with them to share with their parents that includes nutritional information about the produce and a recipe to use at home.
“It’s just adding to a healthy lifestyle,” said Delia Gomez, the principal at the Hollister Dual Language Academy. “Some students are never exposed to it … The fruits and vegetables are grown here. It gives them awareness of the environment.”
She added that it also teaches students who are not aware that some of their peers’ parents may be the ones working to pick the harvest.
The Hollister Dual Language Academy classes signed up for a three-month trial of the program, and one parent, Karminder Brown, said she was hopeful the PTO would continue to fund it for the rest of the school year.
“Every month I learn something new,” Brown said. “Like you can peel a kiwi with your fingernail, like a banana. Some kids said they eat them sprinkled with chili and lime juice.”
CAFF originally put on a workshop in San Benito last spring to discuss some of the ways to promote healthy eating in schools and in which to teach kids about local agriculture. At the time CAFF had schools in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties participating in the Harvest of the Month, but none in San Benito.
“There were a few stumbling blocks to using [the Harvest of the month club],” said Nants Foley, who is a board member of the nonprofit San Benito Bounty, along with her husband Tim.
CAFF traditionally accepts schools to the Harvest of the Month club that have at least seven classes participating to make it worth the trip to deliver the produce.
“We are a small county with small schools – well, we have some bigger ones,” Foley said. “We came up with the idea that San Benito Bounty would be the recipient and people would pick up here. It works for [CAFF] and it works for our county as well.”
The Foleys, who are also involved with the YMCA, coordinated with staff there to use the Harvest of the Month program in the after-school programs.
“The YMCA serves so many kids in the after school program,” Foley said. “They serve them snacks, and there is always the push and pull between what kids want to eat and what we want them to eat.”
Rochelle Callis, the executive director of the San Benito YMCA, said she had been looking at a way to incorporate lessons about healthy eating as part of a wellness campaign.
“We thought it was a great opportunity to introduce fruits and veggies,” she said. “It’s a very reasonable price and we have a donor [Teknova] in town that is helping with the cost.”
“The kids love it,” Callis said.
She said her own kids have enjoyed it.
“As a parent, my kids tried all the stuff,” she said. “If it gets presented in a fun way, they might try something they wouldn’t normally.”
Foley, through her connections at San Benito Bounty, is working to expand the program in the county. She is on the Ag in the Classroom committee and said the Farm Bureau is looking at funding a few months of the Harvest of the Month club for third-grade classes in San Benito, since those are the students served at the annual farm day. CAFF requires a three-month commitment for the program and the cost is $15 a month per class.
“It’s really not very expensive,” Foley said. “Not only are the kids trying these different fruits and vegetables, but they are excited. That is what we are hearing.”
Kim Gaither, a parent volunteer at the Hollister Dual Language Academy, said she is seeing the same thing. She donned the kiwi costume for the tasting at HDLA.
“Children are much more open to trying it in class,” Gaither said. “My daughter came home and said, ‘I didn’t think I liked kiwis, but now I know I do.'”
Kristi Matthews, who has kids 6 and 8 at the Montessori School, volunteered to be the parent coordinator at the school.
“It’s great to raise awareness about local farms,” Matthews said. “It’s the concept of eating locally. It’s one thing to expose [students] to vegetables and fruits, but this focuses on local [produce.]”
With the younger children, Matthews focuses her presentations on tasting the produce. With the older kids they sometimes work in the kitchen. The first month the kids fire-roasted poblanos.
“They just want to get involved and be hands on,” she said. “I was surprised at how many of them really liked the bell peppers.”
