Snack program hits home

POLSON — Eating healthy is a crucial component for children, not just in regards to their bodies, but also their minds, and in multiple facets there as well. By eating foods high in nutritional value, students become sharper in the classroom while learning about the importance of a healthy diet.

It’s with this in mind that the Polson School District has started participating in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, a federally-funded program that provides schools with money to bring healthy snacks into the classroom.

A couple years ago, pilots were run in about five states to measure how effective a program like this might be nationwide. After being deemed a rousing success, it was introduced to Montana and made its way to Polson for the first time this year.

Polson applied to the program this year and was accepted, based on their percentage of students who apply for free and reduced lunch. With the funding set at approximately 50 cents per student, per snack, the district has had the money required to spring for slightly more expensive, albeit much healthier snacks purchased locally.

“It’s a great program to start buying local with,” Lindsay Howard, AmeriCorps VISTA with the Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center, said. “This program is well-funded, so purchasing local produce is more feasible.”

Most of the local sourcing for the snacks is done through the Western Montana Growers Co-Op, but on Tuesday, Feb. 21, honey crisp apples were bought directly from Moss Farm in Rollins, packaged and processed at the food enterprise center in Ronan, and given to K-6 students in Polson schools.

“The kids have definitely been able to tell the difference in the local snacks,” Katie Wheeler, AmeriCorps VISTA in Kalispell, said. “They’re a lot fresher.”

The program has been done in Kalispell since last year and, according to Wheeler, has been a great success.

“It’s not necessarily to supplement nutrition,” Wheeler said. “It is to a degree, but it’s also a matter of education and getting kids to try things they wouldn’t normally try or have access to.”

That education comes in the form of a sheet that teachers are given, which lays out both nutritional facts, as well as the advantages of buying locally.

“The goal isn’t to give them a snack to fill their bellies because they skipped breakfast,” Howard said. “It’s mostly educational.”

The snacks have been coming all year for the students and will continue to do so for the rest of the year. Polson and Kalispell do snacks two days a week, while the Ronan School District, which also participates, gives out snacks five days a week. The three schools are all doing the Moss Farm apples this week and purchased the apples simultaneously, making the deal more cost-effective between both the purchase of the fruits and the processing of them at the food enterprise center.

To date, Polson has given out snap peas, jicama and zucchini, to name a few veggies, and are doing cucumbers on Thursday and grapes on Tuesday, Feb. 28 as the program rolls along.

“We get a lot of thank yous,” Jim Steiner, food service director in the Polson School District said. “Overall, the teachers say it’s gone really well.”

The application to the program is done on a yearly basis, but Steiner says he already plans to apply in 2012-13 and wants to build off of what has been started.

“Next year, we’re hoping to do a lot more locally,” Steiner said.

For the students, the snacks have been more than just tasty treats to tide them over before lunch. The local local treats are benefitting everyone involved from head to toe.