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Grow, Eat, Learn & Prosper
By Susan Weinstein
As the proud founder and chair of the U & ME Schoolyard Garden and leader of the Healthy Snack initiative, I saw the importance of maintaining the momentum of the successful garden program while adding food preparation and cooking through a summer U & Me Schoolyard Garden Cooking & Program.
The U& ME Garden & Cooking Program was a way to connect our district's children; ages 5 to 11, to food, from the soil to the kitchen. By offering educational experiences in the schoolyard garden, and with simple recipes using seasonal ingredients,we stayed true to our mission: Through daily healthy snacks and experiential learning opportunities in the schoolyard garden and kitchen, the children gain an appreciation for where food comes from and what is involved in growing and preparing it to encourage them to enjoy a wider variety of foods.
The five week summer program enrolled 30 children and met twice a week for four hours at a time. During each session half of the children met with garden coordinator/educator, Peggy Henden-Wilson to plan, plant, maintain and harvest from the schoolyard garden. The other half met with Nutrition Center's, Robert Hoechster and Berkshire Co-op Market's, Jenny Schwartz to prepare the healthy snack of the day, which ranged from veggie pizza to Asian lettuce wraps.
The 'magic' of the daily events became most apparent at the end of each session when all of the children gathered together and reflected on their experiences, both verbally as a group and independently in their field journals.
'I planted a lot, well I think. Everyone did a terrific job. I measured with a shovel.' -Ty, age7
'I liked cooking the BEST! I want to be a chef when I grow up.' -Isiah, age 8
'I really liked the cantaloupe granitas and today we planted 100 hot peppers!'- Haileigh, age 7
'Today I made a salad and some delicious dressing. The dressing was maple vinaigrette. I want to makeit again at home!' -Hailey, age11
'Today we made healthy brownies. There was spinach in the brownies, but you couldn't tell!" -Zoe, age 9
'I made a spinach omelet and it was good. It was healthy." -Jay, age 6
'Today I cooked in the kitchen. We baked healthy oatmeal raisin cookies and they were good! We also worked in the garden. It was FUN!!' -Ashlynn, age 6
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