Free Lunch and Garden Discoveries

I successfully completed my first dietetic internship rotation this week.  It was exhilarating to have an opportunity to put my knowledge and experience in practice, and everyone I worked with was extremely supportive.  My first week included two assignments: (1) Assist with preparation of food and delivery of lunches for a free Summer Lunch Program and (2) participate in a Summer Food Academy for 4^th-5^th graders. 

Free Lunch

The delivery of lunches was fast and furious.  The USDA funds the free lunch program, but the funding is limited to $3.00 per meal which must cover the labor, delivery costs, and food.  Amazingly enough, the lunch included hot and cold entrée choices, two choices of fruit, two choices of vegetables, milk and a “treat”.  AND, the meals are delivered to almost 40 sites every day including parks, apartment complexes, and schools.  The food is loaded on small school buses with built in food warmers, coolers, and thermal packs that hold a milk crate.  Food and milk was kept frosty cold using ice packs.   At each site, we quickly set up a sturdy folding table and set out food.  There was always a line formed at each site, with 40-60 children ages 1-18 eagerly anticipating a nutritious lunch.  Lunch service was often as short as 15 minutes and the delivery schedule was tight.  We got a great work out unloading and reloading the bus at each site.  At several sites the kids chased the bus and waved as we drove on to the next neighborhood.

What did we serve, and did the meal include whole foods? 

While the hot entrée was standard fare for school age children (chicken nuggets, pizza, corn dogs), the children could also choose a fresh deli sandwich, small salad with chicken, yogurt, or peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  All of the fruit, vegetable, and “treat” items impressively included whole foods:  fresh orange segments, apples, and apricots; baby carrots, broccoli florets, sliced cucumber, and sliced summer squash fresh from the garden.  The “treats” included a carton of orange juice or a fruit cup with only 2 ingredients:  strawberries and sugar.  I was surprised to see only a very few of the children do their best avoid the raw vegetables, but parental encouragement quickly won every time.   I was even introduced to a new food:  raw sliced summer squash fresh from the garden.  At first we questioned the wisdom of including these raw.  I tasted a slice at the first site and enjoyed it.  At the next site, when we were asked “what did you bring?” our response was “crunchy organic squash freshly picked from the garden!”  We ended our service with an empty vegetable container.

Summer Food Academy

The Summer Food Academy was inspiring.  The program was from 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. for three days.  Upon arrival, the students made breakfast, set the table, and ate together.  After a short outside recess, they participated in several lessons in the school garden including harvesting vegetables, creating a worm farm, composting, the life of a plant and edible parts, whole vs. processed foods, and reading Nutrition Facts labels.  Back inside the kitchen, the students prepared their lunch and ended the day eating lunch together.  The foods they experienced making included pancakes with fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, fresh strawberry jam, scones, yogurt and fruit parfaits, baked chicken or burgers, sushi, and homemade pizza.  In addition to their cooking contributions, breakfast included several different kinds of fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, bananas, apples, oranges) and lunch included the vegetables they harvested and more, both roasted and raw (green beans, onions, beets, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, radishes, cucumber, zucchini, and a fresh salad  with balsamic vinaigrette) and more fresh fruit.  We picked mint and seeped it in water overnight to enjoy mint water for lunch the next day.  Cabbage was served raw, roasted, and dressed as cole slaw so the students could experience the vegetable in many different preparations. 

Did they eat it?  The food was passed family style around the table, and each mounded fruits and vegetables on their plates at every meal.  The instructor set the expectation on the first day that everyone would take at least one bite of everything served.  Not only did they try everything – they cleaned their plates at both meals!

While we enjoyed the meals together, we discussed the importance of calcium, iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C and identified the foods on the table that provided the nutrients.  The students were quite nutrition savvy for their age and eager to share what they knew.  There were many new food discoveries and the students excitedly reported their experiences to their parent(s) at the end of each day. 

It was clear that the children had tremendous fun and left with a new respect for where their food originated.  They tried many new vegetables and found some new favorites to eat at home.  I left with a full heart and a full stomach, inspired to include more fruits and vegetables into my own meals.