Healthy Food, Healthy us
Develop the skills of a food detective asking questions about the food that we eat-what it is, where it comes from, who grows our food, how each food helps us or doesn’t. There is always something delicious and nutritious to eat.
Academic Disparity Grant funding allowed Snipes Farm and Education Center to provide the 19 classes of K-5 students of Morrisville School District a monthly nutrition education lesson in October, November and December of 2022 and January of 2023.
The year began with a celebration of the native foods from the region: corn, beans, squash (the Three Sisters of the Lenni Lenape) and cranberries with a sampling of blue corn chips, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries and edamame, all simple healthy snacks.
The next session we explored food preservation and foods that we dry, freeze, jam and ferment. Students made power bites with sunflower seed butter, cocoa powder, vanilla, honey, and cinnamon.
The holidays unveiled a citrus salad that students made themselves with apples, oranges, cranberries, coconut, and a homemade dressing.
The new year launched our study of Go, Grow and Glow foods-carbs, proteins and veggies and fruit. Children made a batch of hummus enjoyed with pita bread, sweet peppers and cucumbers. We got excited about whole foods!
Each lesson begins with an interactive power point that takes students around the world to see where each of the ingredients of the days’ recipe come from: coconut palm plantations, fields of oats, sunflowers and sugar cane. Whenever possible we thank the bees for 4 out of every 5 bites of food that we eat.
This funding enabled us to continue a program begun in the Spring increasing impact, continuing to build relationships with students and teachers and trust to try new healthy foods first in the classroom and then at home. We are grateful to Ivins House for including Snipes Farm and Education Center in the grant and for Bucks County’s Academic Disparity Grant for the opportunity to do this important work.
