Cafeteria Chronicles: Carrollton Exempted Village School District (Carrollton, OH)
Nutrition education starts from the ground up.
The team at Carrollton Exempted Village School District in Carrollton, OH understands that well. They saw firsthand that when students learn how to grow food, they are more likely to eat the food. With the help of an outdoor educator and agriculture instructor, students learn how to grow lettuce at school, which is served in the cafeteria. From their hydroponic grow towers, they were able to produce 80 heads of lettuce each week for the school lunch menu.
“…from the time we put a transplant in until the time we harvest, it’s 30 days. So, these kids get to sow it, they get to grow it, they get to know it, and the ultimate reward is they actually get to enjoy it.”
Tomatoes, sweet potatoes, potatoes and herbs are also grown in their “edible” school garden. To gauge the students’ interest in trying the school-grown produce on the menu, they first conduct taste tests. In their recent fall harvest taste test, students tried school-grown sweet potatoes, and over 90% of students voted to include them on the school lunch menu.
Check out what’s growing at Carrollton:
To complement their nutrition education efforts with gardening, the district also provides nutrition information to students, parents, and teaching staff. The curriculum includes games and activities to keep learning fun for the students. For teachers, resources for nutrition lessons in the classroom are provided, which also reinforces the district’s Wellness Policy. Parents are given healthy recipe ideas, as well as nutrition articles that focus on how parents are role models for healthy living. The nutrition education offered at Carrollton was made available to over 1900 students and their families.
With the collaboration from the Outdoor Educator, Director of Food Services, Greenhouse Management and Vocational Agriculture classes, the district not only improved the health and wellness of their students, but they also earned the USDA’s Healthy Meals Incentives (HMI) Recognition Award for Innovation in Nutrition Education.
Kudos to the team at Carrollton Exempted Village School District for leading the way in school nutrition!
Stay tuned for more Cafeteria Chronicles stories from school districts nationwide. Check out our Cafeteria Chronicles Blog for more inspiring school nutrition transformations!
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