Benjamin Banneker Elementary School hosted the fourth annual Homegrown School Lunch Week kickoff last Friday as part of a statewide effort to bring locally grown and produced food to students across Maryland from this week.
The program, designed to teach students where their food comes from, how it is produced and the benefits of a healthy diet, is intended to expand the minds and palates of local youths while simultaneously expanding the market for Maryland farmers.
Speaking to Banneker fifth-graders in Loveville that morning, Interim State Superintendent of Schools Bernard J. Sadusky said, “This is the first time that we have all of the schools in the [Maryland] school system participating in the Homegrown School Lunch Week. Last year alone we served 25 million breakfasts and 70 million lunches, and that means that every day you get to make choices, and you have to know how important it is to make good choices. Your diet helps to make sure that you can be the best you can be. So remember, eat healthy.”
St. Mary’s school board chair Sal Raspa had students in an uproar as he asked for responses to questions like, “How many of you have ever visited a farm?” “How many of you have ever picked fresh vegetables from growing plants?” “How many of you have vegetable gardens at home?” and finally, “Here’s the really important question: Does chocolate milk come from brown cows?”
As the children laughed, Raspa explained that he grew up in an area where there were no farms, so as a child he actually believed the last statement to be true. He told students they are lucky to live in an area abundant in local agriculture and how important it is to have a healthy diet consisting of plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat products.
“The farm-to-school program will help everyone understand where your food comes from, understand the dietary benefits of eating fresh products, and help markets and farmers throughout the state of Maryland,” Raspa said. “So encourage your parents, whenever possible, to purchase fresh vegetables and fruits from local farmers because it helps our local community.”
As the day progressed, more than 600 students at Banneker were introduced to agricultural displays and activities, including a seed-planting station, recycling and mulching station and a livestock petting station. They even got to meet Cornelia, a giant corn-on-the-cob mascot featured television shows and coloring books statewide. For lunch, students sampled yellow squash casserole, cucumbers, zucchini, corn on the cob, cherry and grape tomatoes and watermelon, all purchased from nearby farms.
“It’s really about stressing how important it is to eat right and be physically fit,” said Banneker Principal Debra Bowling. “Even our physical education program here at Banneker emphasizes fitness overall, so I’m hoping the students will go home and share with their families the importance of having that healthy diet that they have here at school and have it carry over to their meals at home.
“I also think knowing where your food comes from and being able to take a moment to appreciate living in a farming community is essential,” she added.
“The job that we do as educators in St. Mary’s County is very critical in terms of changing behaviors into positive ways, making good, healthy choices, so that when students have to choose between having, say, a Snickers bar or an apple, that they assess the nutritional value and benefits of choosing that apple over the candy bar,” said Michael Martirano, St. Mary’s superintendent of schools. “The advantages are astronomical as far as their health and productivity in school, and it also addresses the issue of combating the onset of early childhood obesity.
“I want this to be a full-stimulus event, so that they can touch, feel, smell, taste I’m about fully immersing students so that they take away more than they would from a lecture alone,” Martirano added. “We just hope to help them make decisions today that will become habits for life.”
Maryland’s Homegrown School Lunch Week was created during the 2008 session of the Maryland General Assembly. For more information, visit www.marylandfarmtoschool.org.
jgoolsby@somdnews.com
