By

Lynda Hoffman,   Greenock El Sch

Play:

Topics:

Access to Healthy Foods

With another grant, we created a Kids' Kitchen out of an old conference room. The kids then had lots of opportunities to come down and try different foods. We worked with 5-2-1-0 Initiative to get them to try different fruits and vegetables. We used recipes from MyPlate to use as snacks. The kids then went home and made some of the foods for their families. We are going to expand this next year.

What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

We needed a way to get the kids in a safe atmosphere to try healthier foods. If it was a bag of chips, they would scarf it down, but to get them to try mango, pineapple, avocado, different colored peppers, cucumbers, spinach - all these fresh foods - we needed to make it appealing. Thus, creating the kitchen helped. They are eating healthier snacks now.