By Kelly MacNeil
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkno/local-wkno-942369.mp3
Little Rock, AR – In an effort to curb childhood obesity, a new program is born to ensure fresh, healthy foods in school lunches. The pilot program is called FoodCorps, and it's being tested in ten states, including Arkansas and Mississippi. Kelly MacNeil of member station KUAR in Little Rock takes us to a school where the program is being implemented.
As Chris Hiryak enters the greenhouse he runs with the kids at Mabelvale Middle School in Little Rock, he switches off the classical music he plays for the plants when he's absent.
"The kids aren't quite convinced if I'm crazy or if I really mean it," Hiryak says.
Rows of tomatoes and salad greens grow even in the dead of winter with the help of gas heaters in the greenhouse. It's the first year of the school garden. Earlier in the fall, kids helped dig up about a half-acre in the school's courtyard for vegetable beds.
"The kids have done an awesome job." Hiryak adds, "So we have lots of fresh organic food growing out of what was formerly Bermuda sod."
Hiryak will get a big boost next school year, when the first five members of FoodCorps are expected to arrive They'll help put fresh food into school lunches, instead of mystery meat.
"I've been working in this area for five years," Debra Eschmeyer said. She works with the national Farm-to-School network.
"And the one thing I get repeatedly is I love the idea of school gardens, and love the idea of farm-to-school, but our budgets are tight and we just don't have the labor to pull it off," Eschmeyer explains. "Now we have the answer: we're creating FoodCorps."
It will place members into public schools around the country, working for a small stipend, trying to create healthier school lunches. Arkansas was chosen as one of the start-up FoodCorps sites. Volunteers will work with the Delta Garden Study, an initiative already underway with the Children's Hospital Research Institute. RaeJae Robinson is one of the eighth graders who's been working at the pilot garden.
"We're learning how," Robinson says. "Instead of just going to the store and depending on other people to make our food, how we can grow it in our backyard. And we learn how little things affect big things."
The Delta Study has developed a curriculum that teaches kids science as they work in the garden, so that no instruction time is lost.
"I never really thought about it until I got to the garden," Robinson explains.
"Did your family have a garden growing up?" the reporter asks.
"No, but this summer I'm going to have one," Robinson says.
"Have you told your parents about this?" the reporter asks. "No, I'm going to let it be a surprise," Robinson said.
Hiryak says the kids so far aren't turning up their noses at the veggies that are harvested. But school cafeterias still have trouble getting fresh food into their menus.
"It's the cost, it's processing all the produce, some of it is storage - cold storage is not available. Trucks come to Mabelvale every morning to deliver foods that have to be cooked that day."
Hiryak wants to put a salad bar in the school cafeteria. He thinks the school garden can supply it during the warmer months.
"At other times, we'll probably have to buy from some local producers," Hiryak says.
That's where the FoodCorps workers could really help, coordinating with local farmers. Schools are seen as a good intermediate step for growers wanting to sell more than just a few pounds of carrots at a time. But Hiryak says the framework just isn't there right now.
"It's hard to ask a small farmer that has five acres to make a guarantee on a specific date that they can deliver. And if they don't have the insurance to back it up, like some of the big food companies do, that can present a huge challenge for them," Hiryak said.
Leaders of the farm-to-school movement want FoodCorps to grow into a major labor pool dedicated to better school meals. Hiryak is already seeing rewards, straight from the kids - the ones he plays classical music to in the garden.
"I had a student come to me the other day and he said, Chris I really like this music,' I said why? And he said the plants are growing, and I'm growing, too. I'm learning to like different things,'" Hiryak said. "I was like, that's awesome."