PRINCEON: They grew it and then they ate it

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   When the children at Littlebrook Elementary School went to get an early afternoon snack Wednesday, they didn’t grab candy or potato chips.
   Instead, they sampled spinach, kale chips and other foods made with ingredients the children grew in a garden located in the courtyard of the school on Magnolia Lane.
   Parent volunteers helped serve samples during what was called a “harvest tasting” on Food Day, a national effort to promote eating healthy food produced in an environmentally conscious way.
   Each grade, averaging about 60 children each, ate what they had planted. At first glance, the dishes might consist of things the typical 6- or 7-year-old might run away from.
   Amy Mayer, the mother of a third-grader, was with other moms setting up a table with small plates of roasted beets, chard and spinach with a yogurt sauce.
   ”If they grow it themselves, they want to try it. We make it exciting. It’s well-prepared,” Ms. Mayer said before the children arrived.
   Children here and at other Princeton public schools get to test the limits of their palates. Area chefs visit to participate in a food-tasting program called “Garden State on Your Plates” that exposes them to different foods.
   ”The kids have so many tasting experiences throughout the year, they’re very adventurous,” Ms. Mayer continued. “We hear from parents that they come and say, ‘We should have beets more often.’ “
   One such chef, Rick Piancone of Princeton University, was at the school Wednesday for the harvest tasting. His contribution: a potato and pepper frittata, a type of quiche dish made with ingredients that included vegetables grown at the school.
   ”I think they really get to see the finished product and taste it,” he said.
   Children went home with recipes for all the dishes served Wednesday.
   ”I’m lucky, I have a very good eater,” said Anja Zimmermann, the mother of a first-grader. “My son eats a lot of vegetables and almost anything.”
   Schools around the state and the nation have had to adjust to federal mandates about what is served in cafeterias, from portion sizes to having more fruits and vegetables. In some states, students have complained about the restrictions, saying they are not getting enough to eat. One news reports cited how students in a Wisconsin high school staged a boycott of the cafeteria food.
   At Wednesday’s event, Littlebrook children could be seen throwing away their biodegradable plates with the healthy food still on it. One parent said breaking bad eating habits does not happen overnight.
   ”My theory is, we guided them to this concept that everything should be white and have cheese on it, but then finding out that when you grow up and you’re adult, that’s not a very healthy way to live,” said Littlebrook PTO president Dina Shaw. “So the only way to undo that is to start at some point teaching children that there should be a variety of textures and flavors. It’s got to start somewhere.”
   All schools in the district have gardens that provide hands-on learning tools, from the science aspects of gardening to the nutritional benefits of eating healthy. Planting occurs at different points in the calendar year, although students are not outside in the gardens every day.
   At Littlebrook, home to students from a wide array of cultures and ethnicities, the PTO paid for a part-time garden manager, Priscilla Hayes. Overall, the garden costs about $10,000 to $12,000 a year to run, almost all of which comes from the parents, said Ms. Shaw.
   Ms. Hayes, standing not far from where pupils lined up for Mr. Piancone’s frittata dish, cited the benefits of getting children outside to experience nature.
   ”You just cannot beat hands-on education,” she said. “They learn not to be afraid of the soil or bugs or anything else like that. They learn how food is grown. They get a sense of wonder from eating their own food that they have grown.”