Glen Cove, NY Fruit & Veggie Infusion Food Revolution

Glen Cove, NY Fruit & Veggie Infusion Food Revolution

Thu 15 Dec 2011

Story by Maria Venuto
 

The Glen Cove, NY Fruit and Veggie Infusion was created out of the desire of several parents and staff at Katherine A. Deasy (pronounced Daisy) Elementary School to work to make improvements in nutrition for students and their families. Creating a Food Revolution community page provides us with a tool to connect parents, staff and community members, highlight our activities, and share information about nutrition and health in and out of school.

Our students suffer from the same issues that plague the majority of our nation’s children and their families. Kids are disconnected from what they eat: it frequently comes in the form of fast food or from a box, can, or bag, is highly processed, contains many additives, and may not bear any resemblance to its original form, or anything found in nature. In many cases this food does not provide them with the nourishment required to thrive. Processed food is depriving kids of crucial nutrition that will set the stage for their health throughout their lives.

The Fruit and Veggie Infusion focuses on ways to reconnect students to what they eat through gardening and preparing their own food. Thanks to our dedicated school Principal Nomi Rosen, who received a discretionary grant from a private funding organization, students began this year with their very own garden. The enclosed Teich Garden System is designed as an outdoor classroom, large enough to easily accommodate an entire class. It has its own irrigation system and uses weed prevention landscaping cloth as mulch. The design of the garden enriches the curriculum while minimizing the work required by teachers and students, who can spend their time teaching and learning rather than weeding and watering. Students are instructed in simple food preparation using the garden vegetables they cultivate.

For our first harvest in October, Principal Rosen ordered whole-wheat pizza from a local restaurant, and with the help of the district food services, sautéed vegetables from the garden, which were added on top of the pizzas to make a salad pizza. The whole school got to eat a slice and enjoy the fruits of the garden.

The garden and related activities are a means to connect the Glen Cove community through a mutual interest in gardening, nutrition and the health and well being of all. As part of these efforts, we held our 2nd Annual PTA Health Fair, which provided information about nutrition, after school programs, sports leagues, and health services to the Glen Cove community. Two dozen local exhibitors provided information, demonstrations, massage therapy, and free health screening.

To promote drinking water in various forms over sugary beverages, samples of fruit and veggie infused water, such as cucumber, strawberry, and kiwi were distributed to fair goers as they viewed a demonstration about the amounts of sugar in soda, sports drinks and flavored milk. In the gym, karate, Zumba, yoga, and dancing kept children active during the fair.

In early October, a Garden and Nutrition survey was distributed to all Deasy families. The survey results demonstrated enthusiastic support for increasing the variety and quality of fruit and vegetables on the menu and offering a salad bar at the school. Deasy School parents and staff serve on the district Wellness Committee, and are involved in taking next steps, including applying for salad bar grants, and rewriting the district’s Wellness policy.

The garden will be active from through the calendar year. Volunteer families will take turns as garden keepers, tending the garden for one week in the summer. They will be rewarded with whatever they harvest. Any surplus they cannot consume will be donated to a local food pantry.

Our other plans include purchasing two solar ovens and cooking utensils for our young chefs. Deasy School does not have a kitchen (food is transported in from another school in the district). Solar powered ovens will expand the possibilities allowing students to make roasted vegetables, vegetable frittata and kale chips with the assistance of their teachers. With the garden as a vehicle for learning, our students will gain confidence in their abilities as they cultivate and nurture plant life, and will be empowered by creating their own simple, nutritious food.

About the author: Maria Elena Venuto is a filmmaker, the Executive Director of a nonprofit media arts organization (The Standby Program, standby.org), a PTA member, and mom of Samantha (age 8) and Aurora (age 4). She started the Glen Cove, NY Fruit and Veggie Infusion Food Revolution group in Summer 2011.