How do you get kids to eat more fruits and vegetables? Tulsa Public Schools finds it’s best to show them how they get to our tables in the first place.
The district’s fall farm-to-market event Friday let students make smoothies on blender bikes, learn about composting and gardening, and milk a wooden cow.
"The goal of this is to give the kids the opportunity to see where food comes from, and also how to utilize fresh fruits and vegetables in a different aspect — or even some canned vegetables, because sometimes we can't always get fresh, especially in those food deserts," said TPS Nutrition Educator Taylor Horn-Speck.
TPS knows the event is catching on, and not just because more groups are participating.
"How we gauge success is seeing these kids come back, enjoying it every time," Horn-Speck said. "This is available to third- through fifth-grade students, and when the third-graders want to come back even in their fourth- and fifth-grade year, that's obvious success."
Students even got to take home starter vegetable plants in biodegradable pots.
Tulsa Health Department dietician Melissa Horn-Speck said the event is a good way to get entire families eating healthier.
"Maybe when they go to the grocery store with their parents, they can point it out and say, "I had jicama. That was great. Can we buy it?'" Horn-Speck said.
Horn-Speck said she meets many parents want their kids to eat a broader range of healthy foods, but it backfires because they don’t eat those foods themselves.
