PRESS

May 17, 2006

Food 101
Head Start program teaches young children why fruits and vegetables are important to a healthful diet

By BARBARA QUINN

Special to The Herald

How do you teach a 3-year old to like fruits and vegetables? Let him taste a blueberry. Pick a tomato off the vine. Shuck corn (then cook and eat it).

That's the strategy behind "Fruit and Veggies 101," a program being offered to preschool children in Monterey County through a local non-profit organization called Healthy Eating Lifestyle Principles (HELP).

Taught by child education consultants Pat Wells and Ron Frontella, the program is all about experiencing healthful food... preschool-style.

"Kids this age are concrete thinkers," says Wells. "It doesn't get into their heads unless it gets into their hands."

"A lot of kids have never peeled an orange before," says Mike Pippi, executive director of HELP. "This program brings them into a friendly relationship with produce and exposes them to what it tastes like. It takes kids from "yuck" to "yum" with vegetables and fruit."

It's never too early to begin this process, say experts. As early as pregnancy, flavors from food transfer through amniotic fluid to the fetus and influence a child's food preferences. By the age of 5, most children have established their own personal likes and dislikes of certain foods.

Wells begins her lesson by leading a lively group of preschoolers through stretching and marching and shaking actions as they sing:

Way up high in the apple tree, Two little apples smiled at me,

I shook the tree as hard as I could, Down came the apples,

They were mmm-mmm good!

"Food is a big part of children's learning in the early years," says Ricardo Tellez, program director of the Monterey County Office of Education Head Start Program, a federally-funded program for preschool children. "This is a very appropriate way of helping kids learn about health and nutrition."

Head Start serves 1,200 children throughout Monterey County. And 20 to 25 percent of these kids have been screened as high risk for obesity. Unfortunately, says Tellez, child-care food programs which provide money for nutritious meals and snacks in programs such as Head Start are typically under-funded. "This in not something we can do without help," says Tellez. "Our partnership with HELP is critical for us."

HELP has a mission: To combat obesity and increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables and thereby help the well being of Monterey County families. Born under the wings of the Growers and Shippers Association, HELP receives private donations and sponsorships from about 20 companies. "And we are now expanding our agriculture representation to include small and medium-sized family farms as well," says Pippi. Funding also comes from grants from local hospitals and organizations such as the American Heart Association and United Way.

"Fruits and Veggies 101" is being offered to all 24 Head Start classrooms in Monterey County through a grant from Salinas Valley Memorial Health Care and Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. "Everything we offer to the schools we offer free of charge," says Pippi. "Head Start would never have a program like this because they do not have the revenue stream to support it. "

Various learning centers, supervised by teachers, aides and parent/grandparent volunteers, encourage children to count, draw and taste fresh fruit. (A lesson on another day features fresh vegetables.)

Wells leads them in a lesson on colors. "Strawberries are... red!" "Blueberries are... blue!" Bananas are... yellow!" "Grapes are... purple!"

"Look at all the colors in my fruit bowl!" she says, showing the children. "Let's see how they taste in our smoothies!" The children then help to scoop yogurt, ice, bananas and fresh berries into a blender to make fruit smoothies.

Teaching kids to like foods that will keep them healthy into adulthood is the prime aim of teachers such as Denise Noel, site supervisor for the Head Start Child Development Center at CSU-Monterey Bay.

"More than 900,000 obese children in this country are younger than 5 years old," says Noel. "It's important to begin early to know what they are eating. This program is such a huge gift for us. The kids are so excited about eating fruits and vegetables."

Strawberries are ripe, Strawberries are ripe, I hear the children say.

Strawberries are ripe, Strawberries are ripe, We'll all eat some today!"

Besides fun activities with the children, HELP sponsors parent education nights and teacher trainings supported by agricultural companies in Monterey County. One of the classes features a cooking demonstration called "Simply Fresh," with healthful recipes based on fruits and vegetables -- recipes such as "cauliflower rice" and "I-can't-believe-it's-not-pasta."

The children also participate in garden projects.

"Do you know what that little flower will grow into?" Wells asks a group of children hovering over a strawberry plant.

"A strawberry!"

"Strawberries are green, then they are white and then they are red," Wells explains as her preschoolers touch and feel the plant.

"Do you know any berries that are blue?"

"Blueberries!"

"Does anyone know why blueberries are good for you?

"Because they're blue!"

The irony, says Tellez, is that "many of the parents of these children work in agriculture and can't enjoy the fruits (pardon the pun) of their labor because of the cost of produce. This program helps bridge that gap.

HELP also funds work-site programs for adults. "Our goal," says Pippi, "is to reach parents and caregivers -- grandparents and extended family members who are responsible for children -- with the message of health and wellness and healthy living. Classes taught by health educators are offered during lunch or before or after work shifts in several Monterey County agricultural businesses."

"So parents learn at work what children learn at school," says Pippi.

Through pre- and post-surveys, many of the people who go through the sessions have lost weight and started to exercise. "They've bought different groceries and are eating differently at home.

"We've had an amazing response," says Pippi. "One of the fathers said, 'I'm doing this for my children.'" People really want to make a difference for their kids.

The key is prevention through ongoing programs, says Pippi. "Everything we do is geared to pilot and then expanded. "HELP is kind of a template throughout the state, a replicatable model other communities -- especially agricultural-based communities -- can follow," says Pippi.

The goal is to teach people the basics. "The National Five a Day program (to get people to eat more fruits and vegetables) has been going on for 25 years, notes Pippi. "And they've done a wonderful job at building awareness that people should eat five to infinity servings of fruits and vegetables a day. But we still haven't moved the barometer of consumption (of fruits and vegetables) up. We've built awareness but not consumption."

What Pippi's organization thinks is missing is the "values piece" -- personal integrity, honesty, teamwork, dignity, and creativity.

"You can put healthy food into a school or worksite," says Pippi, "but if you don't teach people why they should eat it, they're not going to eat it. You have to create the demand. And it's been working. "

Time and money are other issues. "Teachers are challenged and schools have no money," says Pippi. "So we funded the development of a wellness policy tool kit which is a complete resource guide for schools available online at our Web site www.helpunited.org.

Besides nutrition awareness and action programs in Head Start, HELP is piloting a program in three elementary schools in Salinas called "Growing Farm-fresh Schools. These schools will be funded to help create a live science lab to teach nutrition, plus a salad bar in their cafeteria with produce from local farming companies.

"Monterey County being the salad bowl of the world, we are a natural for these types of programs," says Pippi. "Everything we do is linked to nutrition education.

"Our programs build awareness and value into good food choices," says Pippi. "The message is about health and wellness... no matter what size you are. It's knowing yourself, knowing what is right for you and making the right choices in what you eat, how you live and how you treat others. Value who you are and when you make the best decisions for your life and your health, you automatically affect those around you."

The obesity epidemic, he continues, "is going to be a long-term challenge for all of us. It was created over 50 years like the perfect storm from a lot of different reasons. So the challenge is to establish programs that will be here for the long haul. We are trying to help leverage the strength of the agriculture industry to help schools help families. So part of our mission is to bring more active partnerships into involvement between agriculture and education and health care.

"We should have this in every class in America," says Wells.

Barbara Quinn is a registered dietitian and freelance writer in Carmel Valley.