Nutrition Pilot Program Pedals Local Produce to Kids
Posted: November 12, 2013
Categories: Food in the News / Good Food Ideas for Kids
Image via Hamilton Spectator
3Acres, a new harvest pilot program being run across a handful of schools in Hamilton, is taking sustainability extremely seriously. Not only is the program bringing fresh local foods to students, foods such as apples from Ancaster and sweet potato cookies from Simcoe, but also delivering these foods to schools on bikes.
The program runs throughout the school year and is made up of two parts. For the first twelve weeks leading up to winter, the harvest program provides students with fresh local foods delivered right to their classroom, encouraging children to try new things and learn about nutrition. After the pilot program concludes in the winter, farmers will be brought into schools to teach students about the farming industry.
The program is an innovative and exemplary model of how students can develop an understanding and appreciation of local food as well as how schools can source more local foods, providing greater support to our farmers and setting a healthy foundation for students that will allow them to thrive in the classroom.
Below is an excerpt from the story, the full version of which is available from the Hamilton Spectator:
When the kids at St. Patrick’s Elementary School breakfast program bite into an apple, they know exactly how many “food miles” it travelled.
A new harvest pilot program, 3Acres, is delivering fresh, locally sourced foods — by bike — to a handful of school nutrition programs across Hamilton.
The program is run by Tastebuds, Hamilton’s Student Nutrition Collaborative.
From Ancaster apples to Copetown carrots (and, as a treat, sweet potato cookies baked fresh in Simcoe), the 3Acres program is making sure its clients know exactly where and how far away their food is grown.
For example, Carluke Farm (apples) and ManoRun Farms (carrots) are both 17 km away.
Grace Evans, 3Acres co-ordinator, makes sure to include that information with each delivery. It’s not only education for the students, it also teaches the co-ordinators where their dollars are going.
Each nutrition program gets funding from the Ministry of Child and Youth Services, regardless of where they choose to spend it, Evans says.
And while she acknowledges the convenience of discount stores and bulk buying, the project aims to supplement that with quality local goods.