Farm 2 School Month

End of September through October has been an exciting time for re:TH!NK and Winnebago County Farm to School. Preparations have been in the works since the beginning of the school year to start off on the right foot. Already we have been on a public access television show, had a local radio station interview, and published articles in a youth magazine. While a lot has been happening, we especially want to highlight three large events within the county focused on different aspects of Farm to School: trying new fresh foods, connecting students to Wisconsin agriculture by promoting local farms, and learning to make healthy meals.

          The first event was a Local Tomato Tasting at Webster Stanley Middle School in Oshkosh School District. Check out our YouTube video about it:
                                                     TomatoTasting at Webster Stanley

          Next, we hosted Fall Fair at Maplewood Middle School in Menasha School District. We partnered with their amazing Chartwells food service team and Apple Blossom Lane Orchard from Black Creek, WI. Farmer Todd Hansen couldn’t have been more supportive throughout the process and donated some amazing decorations to make the school really feel like were at the orchard. We brought in corn stalks, hay bales, large paper leaves to decorate the walls, and tons of squash & gourds for the cafeteria. The event turned into a family affair as the Farmer Todd’s daughter, wife, and mother were all in attendance. They talked about the different apple varieties and helped pass out samples and stickers. That’s right, every student who tried at least one sample received an “I ate local food today!” sticker.

          At the event we had a savory and a sweet section. For the sweet we had four different varieties of apple slices (Empire, Cortland, Honey Gold, and Macintosh) along with an apple salad that consisted of diced apples and celery in a honey yogurt dressing. For the savory we “deconstructed” three bean salsa sampling four different platters of onion, beans, tomato, and bell pepper. We let the students try each ingredient individually and then all together as salsa. This provided a way for students try different fruits and vegetables and see how combinations of flavors work together. While some students were hesitant to try a fresh bell pepper slice, most every student had the salsa. A surprising amount of students came up to try the individual ingredients after they knew they were in the salsa. Making the fresh foods relatable to the kids really made them more willing to try new flavors. Some students really didn’t like the tomato but loved the raw onion; no two flavor palates are the same, it is important to offer a variety of options to help students find a tasty fresh food they really like. We were also able to send students home with a really simple and fun recipe cards to make applesauce at home, a classic snack that is widely accepted among kids.

“Wow, all this is for us?! I feel really special.”-8th grader at Menasha Middle

“I love beans, I have never had them plain before but now I could eat them everyday.”-7th grader at Menasha Middle 

          The last of our events was held on Food Day (October 24th), a nationwide celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainable foods. We hosted a chef demo for the 6th grade class at Carl Traeger Middle School in Oshkosh School District. This event allowed us to reach out to our community supporters from the Culinary Arts Program at Fox Valley Technical College. There were approximately 200 youth and staff in attendance. Chef Jason Sargeant came in to teach the students how to make butternut squash soup and gave an informational lesson on different varieties of squash that are available. Cooking is an important part of healthy eating, visits from Fox Valley Technical College student chefs provide a fun way to demonstrate how to cook your own food.

“This soup tastes like pizza!” -6th grader at Carl Traeger   

         Coming up for the month of November we will be focusing on Nutrition Education as we have now identified the majority of students we will be working with in our county. We will also be continuing our Fun Food of the Month program. We can’t wait for the Harvest Medley Blends to come in!

e-cigarettes: A New Frontier for Big Tobacco Companies?

They are all over the media, celebrities are endorsing them, and yet without regulation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) e-cigarettes have no standards to follow or comply with. The short version- Americans know little about the risks associated with using e-cigarettes.

The Huffington Post published an article in early September - 9 Terribly Disturbing Things About Electronic Cigarettes The article gives a list to readers simply stating what is known about e-cigarettes.

        Biggest points from the article:
• e-cigarettes contain toxic chemicals.  Specifically diethylene glycol, a chemical found in antifreeze.
• Kids across the U.S. are able to purchase these products because there is little regulation and they can be purchased online.
• Companies that produce e-cigarettes are creating them in delicious flavors like milkshake.
• Laws regarding advertisement of cigarettes do not yet apply to e-cigarettes... meaning youth are able to see ads on tv, online, and anywhere they may go.

With so much unknown in the realm of e-cigarettes it is best to play it safe and stay away from using. re:TH!NK also encourages you to do your own research and learn more about these products if you are interested, make sure to look at credible sources (example: www.iheartecigs.com might not be the best place to find and read unbiased information ;).

Learning from the Swazi People 3

Through my internship with re:TH!NK I have come to realize the importance of networking and partnerships. Working with others from the community to reach the same goals creates stronger programs. For this reason it is important to become familiar with different organizations within the community.

re:TH!NK and Growing Oshkosh partnered together for the pilot year of the School Garden Program. Due to the lack of green thumbs in re:TH!NK, Growing Oshkosh's knowledge with the gardens was crucial to making the School Garden Program as successful as possible. The gardens are currently producing an abundance of vegetables!

eatsmart! is another program that would not be as wide-reaching if not for local partners. ThedaCare and local health professionals have teamed together to work with participating restaurants. The mission of eatsmart! is to have healthy options be identified and available for those who want to eat healthy is a restaurant setting. The recipe of identified food has been evaluated by a registered dietitian and is marked with the eatsmart! thumbs up! Any interested restaurants can choose to participate. Currently there are 8 participating restaurants in the area!

It is my personal belief that no matter what the program, it is important to team up with others in community. Networking is an important part of working in Public Health. While in Swaziland, Give Hope, Fight Poverty met with different local organizations to find out what else was going on in the community. We didn't want to be competing for resources with others who were trying to accomplish the same things. One of the organizations focuses on the HIV pandemic, currently 40% of Swazi people are HIV positive, some of our orphans included. The organization sets up clinics for anti-retroviral treatment for those in the more rural areas. They also help to place HIV positive people in support groups. This information is good to know and we may use them as a resource in the future. For the time being we were able to to help them by donating some clothing! 

    Swaziland has some of the highest rates of HIV worldwide! This is a picture I took at the border crossing to help promote the use of condoms and safe sexual practice. 

Swaziland is the last absolute monarach and ruled by King Mswati III since 1986. King Mswati has 13 wives, each with her own palace.The royal family will sponsor different organizations. One of the organizations we met with is actually sponsored by one of the princesses. The mission of this organization is to focus and enhance female education. The details of this are still being worked out and the program will hopefully be launched soon. Again, knowledge is valuable and may be useful in the future.  

The beginning stages of the library Give Hope, Fight Poverty is buidling at one of the primary schools. Knowledge is the best tool to help the children!

It doesn't matter where you are in the world networking is important. Partners help to make projects more impactful. It is important to know and utilize the resources available. I am amazed at how much I have learned while interning for re:TH!NK. I loved the variety of opportunities I was able to experience! Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and my time with re:TH!NK is coming to a rapid close. I am definitely going to miss all the new friends I have come know! I am grateful for the great intership they provided for me.  

Learning from the Swazi People 2

Living in America I never truly appreciated the sanitation criteria establishments are required to meet. Living in a place where you don’t have to question how your meat was prepared, where the water in your cup came from, or if the dishes you are using are really clean it can become easy to forget that in some places these issues exist. Typically I am not a person who is concerned with germs…I often use the 5 seconds rule if I drop a piece of food on the floor. However, I have new found appreciation for the regulations we have set up.

I have recently returned from a trip to Swaziland. I was pleasantly surprised when I learned the water was safe to drink. Also, there was always a nearby KFC to grab a bite to eat. However, out of these city comforts and into the more rural areas where many of Give Hope, Fight Poverty’s orphans live these delights are no longer available.  

I realized the seriousness of sanitation as I helped some of the ladies prepare a meal for about 60 people. We chopped vegetables that we had washed in the same bucket of water-it was black with dirt when we were done. We cooked chicken underneath the hot sun in huge black cauldrons on open fires. While the vegetables waited to be placed in an available cauldron they sat in bowls under the shade of a tree for over an hour. The young boys kept us supplied with water as they wheel barrowed water to us in the field- I hoped that the water was from a pipe source that had been through the proper sanitation.

Soap is a scarcity but the ladies took every precaution available. We made sure all visible dirt was off the vegetables, we rinsed out the bowls before putting food in them, the young boys brought us water, and we scrubbed the table and scraped off the dried paper from the surface.

In the end we all ate the food and nobody became ill. In fact, the food was delicious and after all the preparation I took seconds! But I am thankful that we have the Sanitarians from the Health Department to make sure that we have rules in place for those who handle our food to follow. The last thing anyone would want to have to worry about would be wondering if the food and water they were eating was going to make them ill. I'm sure glad I don't have this worry. In fact, next week at EAA I can eat the pulled pork sandwhich with ease knowing our sanitatarians inspect the outdooor festivals in the area.

Learning from the Swazi People

I have recently returned from Swaziland where I worked with a very small but wonderful non profit:Give Hope, Fight Poverty . The mission statement of GHFP is to educate, empower and lift orphaned and vulnerable children out of poverty. In order to accomplish this goal Give Hope Fight Poverty currently sponsors 19 orphans to attend school, provides funds/supplies for a computer lab and library at a primary school, funds methods to obtain food security, and is currently building a primary school in a rural area where the closest school is 12 km away. 

During my trip I was able to spend a lot of time with some of the children that are sponsored by GHFP. We would go to their homes to play different games with the hope of making these children feel loved and special especially since they are all orphans. One way GHFP is obtaining food security is by having the children garden at home and at school. This was really awesome to see because one of my major projects with re:TH!NK has been school gardens. I never would have thought to look and see school gardens half way across the world as well. 

Both the Oshkosh school gardens and the pLangeni school gardens grow cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, and carrots! In addition, the gardens in Swaziland have fruit trees. The kids in pLangeni work very hard on their gardens because for many in is the main source of food. Throughout my trip I was continuously surprised when the kids would eat beets, cabbage, spinach etc. with excitement. It struck me that if the kids in the US were exposed to these types of foods at an earlier age they may show some of the same excitement. I cannot wait to see how the kids in Winnebago County react to the different FUN FOOD OF THE MONTH this year!

                  This is one of the fruit trees at the school garden in pLangeni.

 

         These pictures are from Malindza when we cooked the children lunch!