By Amber Cox, Staff Writer
CHESTERFIELD — Chesterfield was one of nine schools in the state to receive a $7,500 mini-grant from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and Rutgers Cooperative Extension’s Department of Family and Community Health Sciences.
The mini-grant is used to fund programs to help students eat more fruits and vegetables, learn about good nutrition and promote locally grown produce.
The school is required to plant a garden on its property to help promote fruit and vegetable eating.
The garden will be in the courtyard, according to Superintendent Ellen McHenry.
”We have some raised beds that we deliberately put in the courtyard so that we could put a garden there,” she said. “We’re going to start it later this spring.”
Ms. McHenry said a local family donated the topsoil for the garden, and they are just waiting for a “couple of dry days where we can move the dirt into the courtyard.”
Another requirement of the grant is that at least three different vegetables get harvested and they are sampled by students.
Ms. McHenry said the school most likely will have different grade levels sample the items from the garden.
According to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture press release, “The mini-grants are part of a $340,250 Team Nutrition Training Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to train foodservice professionals, increase fruit and vegetable consumption and promote locally grown produce in school meals.
”The nine pilot schools must use their mini-grants to promote fruit and vegetable consumption through fun, interactive lessons and activities, which will link classroom education to the foods served in the cafeteria, including food tastings, promotion of locally grown produce and strategies to engage families and the community,” according to the release.
Ms. McHenry said she hopes to supplement some of the food services for the school with the grant because some of the money can be used to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables from local growers. The fresh fruit and vegetables purchased will go to the cafeteria for school use.
She also said the school received a fruit and vegetable grant a couple of years ago that allowed weekly tastings of fruits and vegetables for all students. The school was no longer eligible for the grant because there were not enough students getting free and reduced lunches through the Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program.
Ms. McHenry said that when the school had the last grant, it held a Family Nutrition Night, and she hopes to bring that back.
Another requirement of the mini-grant is a certain number of lessons must be taught about nutrition.
”We will be doing some teaching about nutrition, healthy eating and fitness,” Ms. McHenry said.
The school has not decided what lessons will be taught because it will be receiving a curriculum and materials kit from the grant providers.
”We’ll be working on selecting what we’re doing from the materials that they’re giving us and choosing,” Ms. McHenry said.
The Rutgers group will be holding a focus group at the school with parents to get a “baseline as to any concerns the community may have about nutrition or fitness.”
Ms. McHenry said that meeting will be held in early May.

