CRESCO – The northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative (FFI) is one of nine national sites funded by the WK Kellogg Foundation Food and Community Program. “Our focus is to improve polices, practices and systems that determine how food arrives on our tables and how our communities can grow opportunities for physical activity,” said Deb Obermann, Crestwood High School Home Economics Teacher and Food & Fitness Director. “We are about people working together to create vibrant communities where the healthy choice is the easy choice and that the healthy choice means that every day all people in northeast Iowa have access to healthy, locally grown foods and abundant opportunities for physical activity and play.”
Obermann says the obvious focus is on making positive changes within the Howard-Winneshiek Community School District. “At the high school, we have 58 members on our local team involved in different areas,” she said. “Lynette Anderson, our youth engagement coordinator, guides us. This youth engagement is instituted in 4-H through Iowa State University Extension with Extension support.”
What follows is a discussion of Food & Fitness activities with three active student members.
Natalie Balk, a sophomore at Crestwood High School, said, “I am actively involved in Food & Fitness at our local level. Many schools in northeast Iowa have started school gardens with support from FFI. Our school garden experience is a little different in that we are partnering with Regional Health Services of Howard County.”
Balk says the group’s first attempt at growing a community garden began late last spring. “With the help of David Cavagnaro’s planning and expertise, about 40 of us, mostly high school students, planted our garden on the east side of the hospital,” she said. “It truly was a work of art with a teepee made of branches for our beans; an entry arch covered with morning glories and planned rows of a variety of vegetables. Many of the vegetables were the standard garden sort like tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, beans and potatoes. Others were newer to us like the kale, leeks, basil, varieties of squash and eggplant.”
During the summer, groups of individuals worked the garden to water, weed and harvest. Since school was not in session, the kitchen at the hospital used the produce for their patients and lunches. Once school was back in session, much of the produce was used for school lunches, in particular at the salad bar. “The elementary students enjoyed decorating their classrooms with the gourds that were grown as well,” said Balk, who adds that there are definite benefits to growing a school garden. “Children are more likely to sample and eat things that they have had a hand in growing; students gain an appreciation for their food and nature; gardening provides an opportunity for physical activity; and gardens provide that reinforcement for growing and eating local foods.”
Balk added, “Did you know that only 1 percent of the food consumed in northeast Iowa is grown locally?”
The group plans on planting the second expanded garden this spring and hopes for participation from more elementary students and their families over the summer months.
Bronc Dykstra is an active member of Food & Fitness at the local and regional level. “Other than our two big initiatives of cross-age teaching and the community garden, our high school team is using its voice to improve healthy food choices and physical activity in the district,” he said. “One of the first things we did two years ago was to bring the machine back. By brining the machine into the student center, students have healthy snack options available to them before and after school, as well as during study halls.”
Items stocked in the machine include: low-fat chocolate milk, Go-Gurt, cheese sticks, beef sticks and juices. The goal is to keep the costs low so the snacks are affordable to all.
“Also, this fall for the second year, our school lunch program took part in the Home Grown School Lunch Week,” added Dykstra. “Items were offered during lunches that were grown in our own community garden or that were purchased locally. Some of the choices included lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, apples and watermelon.”
Since physical activity is also a component of Food & Fitness, the entire school district participated in Fall Fitness Day for the second year in a row. On Oct. 6, 2010, every student and most staff were active for 30 minutes. Each educational center and classes chose their own activity. Choices ranged from a sock hop in Lime Springs to walking the community trail in Elma to walking the bike trail in Cresco.
“We are also in the process of starting a walking club for all students and staff in the district,” said Dykstra. “We will have mile goals that we can equate with distances like climbing Mount Everest, riding RAGBRAI and walking across the United States.”
Dykstra says another exciting opportunity for FFI students was their recent participation in “Taking a Senator to Lunch” in which State Sen. Mary Jo Wilhelm joined a group of Crestwood students for lunch. “Did you know that in a student’s 12 years at school, school lunches count for over 4,500 meals?” asked Dykstra. “We discussed the importance of Food & Fitness at the school level, and also emphasized the importance of developing relationships with policy makers in northeast Iowa to create champions for change at the state level to increase physical activity and nutrition for the State of Iowa as well as the nation.”
Lauren Obermann, a junior at Crestwood High School, is actively involved in Food & Fitness at the local level as well as a member of the FFI Regional Youth Leadership Team, and informs the public of the group’s biggest initiatives, which is cross-age teaching.
“Did you know that the current generation of children in the US are expected to have shorter life spans than their parents due to disease related to inactive lifestyles and inadequate nutrition?” she asked. “Childhood obesity rates are above the national average in northeast Iowa. Trends indicate that overweight/obese children are likely to become overweight/ obese adults, so education is a big focus for us.”
In 2009, the Howard-Winneshiek Community School District was selected as a Farm to School Pilot site. The Farm to School approach helps children understand where their food comes from and how their food choices impact their bodies, the environment and their communities at large. “We have 41 high school students who have been trained as cross-age teachers,” said Obermann. “We go into nine elementary classrooms, grades 1-3, once a month to teach them about healthy food choices.”
In addition, the group teaches the elementary students about nutrition and the impact that certain nutrients have on their bodies; reinforce the concept of buying locally and how that helps the community as well as allowing for fresher options of foods. Each student is given a portfolio of the lesson to take home and share with family members. “Some of the topics that we have presented are: popcorn, tomatoes, pork, greens, apples, squash and potatoes,” said Obermann. “We have also introduced the food pyramid and talked about portion size and the amount of sugar in various beverages they consume. The lessons align with the Iowa Core Curriculum.”
Cross-age teaching has allowed the Food & Fitness members to develop relationships across various different grades. “Younger students look up to the high school students,” explained Obermann. “It allows the high schoolers to serve as role models, both inside and outside of the classroom.”
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