Mon Jan 21, 2008 6:17PM
Wedensday, January 16th, we made our first trip to the Portsmouth Middle School. We arrived at 7:30 in the morning and began to set up. What were we doing there you might ask? We were there to help teach the foods and nutrition class.
Last year when we opened we began to reach out to the Portsmouth School department to offer our services in teaching kids about good food. It didn't have to be a focus on organics, it didn't have to be a focus on The Green Grocer, it just had to focus on healthy food. It's what we beleive in, and we get to give back to the community we live in. So our plan was simple, talk to kids about basic food, where it comes from, why it's good for you and how the simplest foods mother nature provides can be better than anything store bought.
It wasn't until last October that we met with Mrs. Arrent who runs the nutrition program at Portsmouth Middle School, that we finally were able to put that into action. We were asked to instruct a class about breakfast proteins. Sounds easy enough. The caveat was that we couldn't cover the traditional meat and eggs and there could be no nuts in the school. So what to do about a breakfast that didn't include traditional fare? Lisa Rigazio, Organic Outreach Coordinator, and I had some brain storming sessions. Our favorite idea, the banana dog (a banana, on a hot dog bun with peanut/almond butter), was already taken off the list. So we started with rice and beans, grains and vegetable proteins. We learned some very interesting things. First we started the class talking about the indomitable oat. I love this grain the more I learn about it. A 3.5 ounce serving of raw oats has 17 grams of protein, the highest quality of protein of any grain and nearly the same quality of soy protein. Not to mention it's great for heart health and weight loss!
Next we moved onto Mochi. For those of you who have not tried this Japanese treat you are truly missing out. It's a mashed brown rice that is formed into a small board, (picture a small cutting board in size and thickness.) It's cut into squares and baked, the heat causes the moisture to "puff" up the brown rice, like little pillows. You then slice into the side of it and fill the empty space inside with yummy fixings. The kids were more than in favor of the cinnamon raisin Mochi, stuffed with Organic Valley cream cheese, diced calmyrna figs and drizzled with honey. This was perfect for kids who liked a sweet breakfast, but no refined sugars were to be found anywhere.
An interesting note here, most of the kids had never seen an actual fig before. They had only ever had figs in newtons before this. Figs surprised me in our research, ounce for ounce figs have as much calcium as milk and 1 cup of these sweet fruits has 6 grams of protien.
We stayed with Japan and introduced the kids to edamame. Most had never heard of it before, until we told them it was a soy bean. We served up some Seapoint shelled edamame and the kids were mostly ok with the wonder veggie. The flavor was nuetral enough that we didn't get too many yucks. The green soybean is the only vegetable that contains a complete protein without needing to be accompanied by grains.
After tasting the foods we figured we would introduce some seeds. Hemp seeds and hemp milk. Hemp is an excellent source of protein. It boasts a complete spectrum of natural organic proteins, with all 20 amino acids used in the human body, including all eight essential amino acids. (This genus of hemp is certified free of THC,). The kids comments were it "tasted like coffe milk" (bless their Rhode Island hearts) and it "tastes like a milk shake." Some of the students actually asked for seconds on the vanilla hemp milk. Hemp also happens to be an excellent source of omega-3's, just what learning minds need in the morning, and incredibly easy to digest.
Before the kids could get restless we got them up and into their kitchens to make the next item on our list of great breakfast protein rich foods. A black bean quesadilla on a whole grain spelt tortilla. This breakfast would tip the protein scale at a whopping 19 grams, far more than the traditional bacon and eggs. The whole grains in Rudi's spelt tortilla provide fiber and protein. The refried black beans from Amy's are also an excellent source of proteins, add some shredded cheddar cheese from Organic Valley, and it all stacked up quite nicely. This was by far the favorite of all the classes. Not only did they get to make it in under ten minutes they were able to eat their creations.
It's interesting that in the sixth grade classes there wasn't one student who refused the black bean. In the seventh grade classes we had at least one third of the class ask to not have beans or only half the amount of beans. Thankfully they all tried the complete quesadilla regardless and most came away liking the more nutritious version with the beans.
By Friday the 18th we had spent nearly seven hours at the school and seen a total of six classess. Our first class that Friday morning was visited by The Sakonnet Times who were covering the work we were doing. The article will probably appear in two to three weeks. This was such a great experince for me, to be out of the store and still being passionate about healthy food. It was renewing to see the kids wonderful response, more than 90% of the nearly 120 students we saw tasted everything we put in front of them. That was so fantastic, and so many parents tell me thier kids won't try new things. By the way, I had my oldest son in the first class Wednesday morning. I didn't even embarrass him.
Wednsday a handful of mothers and fathers started coming in the store looking for new foods their kids had requested. Mochi, hemp milk and spelt tortillas. I got a little giddy inside when this happened, we really made an impact on some of the students, we may really have made a difference in the way some of them view food. WOW! How lucky are we to have had that chance?!
We would like to thank the Portsmouth Middle School, especially Mrs. Arrent. Thanks to all the students who were so great during our class and for giving us this opportunity to share what we do everyday here. I would also like to thank Lisa for her personal commitment, her passionate hard work and her inspired creativity. We are very fortunate to have her on our team.