Real Food for Kids Launches In-School Nutrition Program at Sleepy Hollow Elementary with Food Day Celebration

PHOTOS courtesy of Real Food for Kids (left to right): Diana Nash and Carmen Venus pour carrots into the big salad. Willowsford Farm’s Deb Demby shows off Chicoletta; Sleepy Hollow 1st and 2nd graders watch Chef Diana; Zumba moves for everyone and Alejandra Cabrera takes a deep breath during yoga session.

The following is courtesy of Real Food for Kids:

The kiddie pool perched on the table in front of Chef Diana Nash was a clue that this was no ordinary cooking demonstration. The 150 kindergarteners and first graders watched Nash quietly from the gym floor of Sleepy Hollow Elementary School in Falls Church. Clad in green, blue, red, purple, orange and yellow Real Food For Kids T-shirts, children were patiently waiting for Nash to make the big salad in the kiddie pool.

“You look like a rainbow in your colorful shirts,” said Nash. “Raise your hands if you eat salad.” A sea of hands shot up. “That’s awesome!” she said. “Now we’re going to make a delicious, healthy salad of those rainbow colors!”

Nash’s presentation was part of Real Food For Kids (RFFK) fifth annual Food Day celebration and the official launch of its Healthy Habits year-long in-school nutrition and wellness program at Sleepy Hollow. RFFK is a parent volunteer non-profit that advocates for better school food. Healthy Habits grew from the desire to build on the impact of RFFK’s yearly Food Day events. It observed that kids had a great time and were inspired as they sampled the healthful and delicious treats and took part in demonstrations that illustrated benefits of exercise and eating well.

Indeed, along with RFFK signature big salad, this year Irene Saucedo had kids rocking with Zumba and The OM Yoga Center instructor calmed them down with breathing exercises and gentle stretches. Afterwards, the little pupils trotted back to their classrooms with bags of salad to sample. Then, the school’s second through fifth graders rotated through a variety of activities. Chef Jonathan Bardzik showed students how to make tasty breakfast oatmeal, loaded with fruit; Williams Sonoma offered food samplings; George Mason University students gave a nutrition workshop and INTotal Health shared nutrition tips. MOM’s Market donated the produce for the food demonstrations and a gift bag for each student. Gus the goat and Chicoletta the hen came with Willowsford Farm’s Deb Demby for the children to pet. A surprising fact: the color of a chicken’s ear lobe generally determines the color of their eggs.

RRFFK is sponsoring a second Food Day celebration at Sully Elementary School in Loudoun County on October 23 where it will also pilot Real Food For Kids: Healthy Habits. Once the pilot has been fine-tuned, RFFK plans to roll out Healthy Habits to more Fairfax and Loudoun county schools.

This will be RFFK’s first venture into bringing a year-long integrated nutrition and wellness program into school classrooms.

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