Sow Healthy featured on KENS 5 San Antonio

NEW BRAUNFELS — At one New Braunfels school, students aren’t just learning from teachers in the classroom and coaches in the gym. Chefs are teaching them in the kitchen.

At Freiheit Elementary School, it’s reading, writing, ‘rithmetic and really fresh food. Chef Mario Perez took fresh produce grown in a school garden at the Canyon High School campus and showed fourth graders how to prepare and cook the food they’ve harvested.

“With this childhood obesity epidemic we’re facing, it’s important for the kids to know where their food comes from and what’s going into their bodies,” said Jennifer Quackenbush, the community health programs manager for Resolute Health. “These are lifelong skills that they’ll take with them.”

The children really get into the specific instruction Chef Perez gives them. The idea is to teach these nine and 10 year olds healthy cooking and eating lessons they may not be learning at home.

“About 80 percent of them do eat out of a box and that’s not anybody’s fault,” commented Comal ISD director of children’s nutrition Dianna Tidwell. “It’s just our society and how fast-paced we are. Parents have to grab dinner on the way home because they’re working. So this is a good opportunity for these students.”

The final lesson is how good eating the food you grew can taste.

The new “Sow Healthy” program is a public-private partnership between Resolute Health and the Comal ISD.