Veggies Kids Love To Eat

How do you get kids to eat asparagus? Have the farmer who grew it serve it to them. That’s exactly what happened at a Nebraska school participating in the Farm to School Program according to Bailey Mahlberg of the Center for Rural Affairs. Mahlberg is the Nebraska Farm to School Coordinator and she recently presented to the Minden Rotary Club at the invitation of Minden Public School Superintendent Dr. Melissa Wheelock.
“Central City Schools had a local asparagus farmer come to the school and show the kitchen staff how to prepare it and then he presented the asparagus in the lunchroom to the kids. They probably wouldn’t have ate it except that the farmer took the time to say, ‘I grew this for you’,” Mahlberg shared.
The Farm to School program is a nationwide initiative that connects schools (K-12) and local farms with the objective of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student nutrition, providing agriculture, health and nutrition education opportunities, and supporting local and regional farmers. The Center for Rural Affairs in Nebraska is part of the National Farm to School Network and Mahlberg is working through an Americorp internship with the Center to promote and expand Nebraska’s Farm to School network.

For more see this week’s Courier