Learn, Grow, Eat and Go! program teaches youth about gardening, nutrition, physical activity

By: Paul Schattenberg, 210-859-5752, paschattenberg@ag.tamu.edu

Contact: Ruby Zavala, 210-631-0400, ruby.zavala@ag.tamu.edu

Rosemary Fuentes, 210-631-0400, rosemary.fuentes@ag.tamu.edu

Angela “Angie” Gutierrez, 210-631-0400, aogutierrez@ag.tamu.edu

SAN ANTONIO – For the past two and a half months, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service personnel have been making a difference in the lives of 542 third-graders at 10 elementary schools throughout Bexar County by teaching them the Learn, Grow, Eat and Go! curriculum, said program coordinators.

“The program attempts to encourage better eating behaviors and inspire more physical activity among young people as a means to help address health issues, such as obesity and diabetes, affecting millions of Texans,” said Ruby Zavala, AgriLife Extension youth gardens coordinator for Bexar County. “The curriculum, which was developed by our agency, focuses on growing a school garden, learning about nutrition and healthy eating, making better food choices and getting more exercise.”

In Bexar County, the program was implemented at V.W. Adams, Columbia Heights, DeZavala, John Glenn, Graebner, Harmony, Jim Martin, Rayburn,  H.W. Schulze and Woodlawn Academy elementary schools – all located in low-income communities of the greater San Antonio area.

Zavala said the Learn, Grow, Eat and Go! curriculum has evolved from a five-year pilot program into an easy-to-follow, 10-week youth curriculum.

“The program is a project of the International Junior Master Gardener Program,” she said. “It combines academics with gardening, nutrition-oriented food experiences, physical activity, and  family engagement.

“It’s a very hands-on program that involves youth in planting, growing and harvesting their own vegetables, learning about nutrition, then using those vegetables to prepare nutritious recipes they can share with their families.”

Zavala said she and her AgriLife Extension cohorts received help with delivering the curriculum from the agency’s Bexar County Master Gardener and Master Wellness volunteer programs. They were also supported by interns from the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of the Incarnate Word and the Baptist Health System Dietetic Internship Program.

“A cornerstone of the program is to establish a garden area at each participating school,” Zavala said. “A few schools already had gardens, but we needed to help repair and replant them. Most of the schools didn’t have a garden, so we helped them build one and provided many of the necessary tools and plants.”

Zavala said the gardens were planted per curriculum recommendations. Some of the vegetables grown for program activities included broccoli, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, carrots and Swiss chard.

“We get the kids interested in learning about the vegetables by involving the senses,” said Rosemary Fuentes, AgriLife Extension health and wellness program specialist for Bexar County. “We ask them to look at, then touch, smell and taste the vegetables and listen to the sound they make when eating them, then ask them to use specific words to describe the vegetables. Then we take those vegetables and use them in a recipe which the kids are involved in preparing and cooking.”

She said at their age the participants are eager to learn and open to new ideas and new experiences.

“Fortunately, the program is long enough to provide us an opportunity to build a relationship with the kids and teach them about gardening, nutrition and the importance of physical health,” she said. “We hope these kids will become ambassadors for nutrition and share what they have learned with their classmates, as well as take home the knowledge they’ve gained and share it with their families. That way, it will become a real community effort.”

Angie Gutierrez, AgriLife Extension family and consumer sciences agent for Bexar County, said one of the main things the kids get out of learning about vegetables through the program is to become familiar with the more unusual vegetables such as Swiss chard.

“They learn they can enjoy new things and they can take the new vegetables home and show them to their parents and tell them about their nutritional value,” she said. “The kids enjoy tasting new things and using them in recipes.”

Joann Trinidad, a third-grade teacher at Woodlawn Academy, said in the 27 years she has been teaching, this program was the first to come into the school to provide extended supplemental education.

“The kids here really get involved in growing and harvesting the vegetables and learning about their nutritional value and how to cook them,” she said. “They especially enjoyed the time when they harvested spinach from the garden to make spinach quesadillas.”

Trinidad said the program has spurred an interest in her students about fruits and vegetables and has helped them improve their eating behaviors.

“The program also brings in other aspects of education like writing, math, earth science and entomology,” she said. “One of our other teachers had some worms and she asked if she could put them into the garden. Another time, we released some lady bugs into the garden and the kids really enjoyed watching them move around. It not only captured their interest but also the interest of kids in other classes.”

Trinidad noted the program also provided an opportunity to engage in speech, civics and art when the students made posters and presentations to get other students to help with their gardening efforts and to raise funds to buy garden decorations.

“This program has been really beneficial for the kids,” said Christin Cabello, a physical education teacher at Columbia Heights Elementary. “Over the past 10 weeks, the AgriLife Extension people have done a 45-minute program on food and nutrition followed by about 15 minutes of exercise. They run and do relay races, work with an exercise ball or do sit-ups, push-ups or jumping jacks. It’s important to keep them active.”

Darlene Gorhum, the principal at John Glenn Elementary where all third-grade classes, totaling about 150 kids, participated in the Learn, Grow, Eat and Go! program, said it provided a “wonderful opportunity for the kids to be involved in a hands-on learning experience.”

“All of the kids in the seven third-grade classes really looked forward to the program sessions, especially the taste-testing part,” she said. “There were lots of educational opportunities for the kids, and the parents even pitched in by providing some of the materials for the garden. The students increased their overall knowledge about vegetables and vitamins, plus learned about certain ingredients that could be added to their diet for improved taste and nutrition.”