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(ATHENS, Ohio – Feb. 1, 2013) When the 19 students from Carol
Abdella’s East Side Elementary third-grade class came into the room
on Tuesday, there was a buzz of excitement: “What’s that?” “What’s
it going to taste like?” “Am I going to like it?“ The object of
attention: eggplant.
AmeriCorps/COMCorps service members Susan Luring and Katie Armstrong
have been answering questions like these throughout schools in
Athens County. Each are doing their year of service with Live
Healthy Appalachia (LHA) and have become educators for Food is
Elementary, a national, evidence-based program developed by the Food
Studies Institute to teach children basic nutrition and provide
hands-on experience cooking healthy foods.
“Our focus is on getting kids interested in eating more of the foods
that they are not getting enough of,” said Luring. “Kids get plenty
of dairy. They get plenty of protein. But they are not getting
enough legumes, vegetables, fruits and whole grains.”
Luring is the Food is Elementary coordinator for Athens County. She
along with 20 others from COMCorps and 18 university and community
volunteers visit all eight Athens County elementary schools and one
classroom at Trimble Middle School for one hour per week for 28
weeks.
The classes are fun and interactive. Kids learn about the history
and culture of foods they try in the class, why they are healthy,
and where they come from as well as measuring, food preparation and
knife skills. “Even though they can’t really cook [alone] right now,
they at least know what things are,” said Luring. “When kids are
part of the cooking process they are more inclined to try the food.
It’s the exposure but also nutrition.”
The need in Athens County was all too apparent, said Michelle
Corrigan, the Food is Elementary program coordinator for
southeastern Ohio. An Ohio Department of Health study found that
more than 30 percent of children and adolescents are classified as
overweight or obese and in Athens County 40 percent of the third
graders fall into the category of obese.
Corrigan helped LHA start the program in Athens County as an
AmeriCorps/COMCorps service member last year and now works full time
for the organization. Over the past year they have worked to make
the curriculum more prepared for the classroom and more applicable
to the region, said Corrigan. For instance, they have introduced
regional vegetables like squash, zucchini, summer squash and
eggplant into the lesson plans.
“A lot of parents think that their children won’t eat fruits and
vegetables,” she said. “We hope to get the kids involved in the
decision-making.”
Funding for the Food is Elementary program comes from grants from
the Sisters of St. Joseph Charitable Fund and the O’Bleness
Foundation, but Corrigan said that they couldn’t run the program in
Athens County without all of the COMCorps educators.
At the end of the hour in Ms. Abdella’s classroom lots of questions
had been answered. Everyone knew what an eggplant was and what it
tasted like. Did they like it? As with most things it is a matter of
personal taste.
About COMCorps
AmeriCorps is a network of local, state and national service
programs that put into service more than 70,000 Americans each year
in an effort to address critical needs in education, public safety,
health and the environment. AmeriCorps is often referred to as a
“Domestic Peace Corps.” Its members serve with more than 3,000
non-profit organizations, public agencies and faith-based and
community organizations.
COMCorps is an AmeriCorps program, housed in the Ohio University
Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Community Health Programs.
COMCorps’ mission is to provide health education and access to
health care and health screenings for children and families in
Athens County.
COMCorps members serve an 11-month term packed with 1,700 hours of
life-changing experience serving others. COMCorps service members
are active in schools and agencies as they deliver health-related
programs and implement health-related projects. Many of our COMcorps
participants often go on to pursue careers in medicine and health
care.
COMCorps is supported by ServeOhio (www.serveohio.org),
the state's commission on service and volunteerism, and local
community partners.
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