Educare Offers Fancy Fare: Program’s Child Nutrition Program Instills Healthy Habits

By Ginnie Graham, Tulsa World, Okla.

Jan. 22–After looking at the bowl for about a minute, 5-year-old Avery Slocum could not bring herself to put carrots on her plate.

No one made a fuss.

“But you liked carrots before,” teacher Wendy Redfearn pointed out.

“They are nasty now,” Avery said. “I want spaghetti today.”

It is Avery’s luck that the chef had whole-grain pasta in meat red sauce on the way. Avery also chose about three pieces of pears and whole-wheat garlic bread.

“My favorite food is what I’m eating now,” Avery said.

At the Educare center, the child nutrition program was designed to promote healthful eating through on-site meal preparation using natural ingredients.

Prepackaged foods for a fast heat-up or reheating are not in the specially designed kitchen.

Children are getting hooked on penne pasta with grilled chicken and spring vegetables, pizza topped with olive oil and part-skim mozzarella cheese, and grilled tilapia.

Snacks consist of whole-grain bagels, low-fat crackers, yogurt or fruit.

“The first thing we did was get rid of everything served on a stick,” said nutrition coordinator Dina Cundith. “It takes time, takes finding recipes and takes the knowledge of someone who knows how to cook.”

The meals meet the same standards set out for all schools and child-care centers. But there is a lot of leeway among the nutritional values to offer in the food.

“Honeybuns and chocolate milk could be served, but that is not the best thing kids should be eating,” Cundith said. “Our goal in early childhood education programs is to provide quality food starting when they are young.”

The more than 600 meals are served family style each day in the classrooms as soon as the food is ready. There is no exact time allotted for meals to make sure the children are not rushed.

Teachers eat with the children and use the time as a lesson. The family-style setting allows children to learn about choices, sharing and basic manners.

“Here is how to use your fork to cut pears,” Redfearn said, showing a student how not to use his hands at the table.

Redfearn moderates as students in her classroom of 3- to 5-year-olds take turns dishing out food and pouring milk. When someone makes a spill, the children at the table jump to help clean up.

“This is a social time for them,” Redfearn said. “It is a good time for them to interact with one another.

“And the food is fantastic. I hate broccoli, but I love it here. I can tell with the behavior of the children that they are not full of sugar.”

To encourage the healthful eating at home, Cundith offers recipes to the parents, who are welcome at mealtime. A parent committee is being formed to plan the menus and nutritional programs for the families.

Because the center has a large Hispanic population from immigrant families, the committee will help bring in culturally relevant recipes.

“Then we can make it healthy and serve in our classrooms,” Cundith said. “But we do use a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains. We are trying to get back to basics in cooking.”

The Educare nutrition program is being spread to Head Start centers operated by the Community Action Project of Tulsa County.

Cundith said the schools that partner with the Head Start programs are beginning to make changes to mirror the Educare plan.

“I look at the health benefits first,” Cundith said. “But there is a bottom-line budget too. So, we do a lot of batch cooking with natural foods to achieve our goals.”

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Copyright (c) 2007, Tulsa World, Okla.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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