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Farm-Fresh Science

By Vickie An

What do kids say after attending Veggie U? "More veggies, please!" The five-week science program is sprouting up in fourth-grade classrooms nationwide. Veggie U students learn the connection between vegetables and nutrition. But here's the fun part: They also get to grow and eat their own veggies, such as squash and lettuce.

"Once the kids plant the seeds and watch them grow, they start to look at veggies differently," Veggie U director Barbara Jones told TFK.

Jones and her husband, Bob, of Milan, Ohio, began Veggie U to promote better eating and health. They want to help lower the rate of childhood obesity and diabetes in the United States. According to the federal government, about one-third of American kids are overweight. "The earlier kids learn the importance of a healthy diet," Barbara Jones says, "the more successful we'll be in helping them establish lifelong [healthy] habits."

So far, Veggie U is taught in 125 classrooms in 21 states. But Barbara believes the number will exceed 500 classrooms by the end of the school year.

The Joneses' farm in northern Ohio provides all the course materials to classrooms. The kit includes seeds, soil, grow lights, earthworms, and farm-fresh vegetables such as blue potatoes and purple carrots. "A lot of students think vegetables aren't cool," says Sam Browning, who teaches at Osborne Elementary in Sandusky, Ohio. "But they're excited to try the ones from the Joneses' farm."

Courtney Russell, 9, is one of Browning's students. She admits she didn't like the blue potato. But attending Veggie U has encouraged her to make healthier food choices. "Now when I have a snack, I'd rather have veggies."

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