Érica Rubino, a registered dietitian and nutritionist, had pulled off that seemingly impossible magic trick by blending up the leafy greens in a smoothie along with orange juice, pineapple, yogurt, bananas and other treats. By the time the blender stopped whirring, the kids were jumping up and down in excitement to eat a food they probably turn their noses up at on most occasions at home.

Rubino has been contracted by the nonprofit Community Food and Agriculture Coalition to pilot a new nutrition education program.

They partner with schools, nonprofit organizations, health care organizations and other venues to provide public and private nutrition classes.

The school-based part of the program for kids of all ages is called “Kids Who Cook!” and the students even get their own personalized cookbooks (provided by a donation from the Missoula Organization of Realtors) and a little graduation ceremony.

“As a registered dietitian, I’m passionate about making nutrition education accessible to all,” Rubino explained. “I focus on providing one-on-one nutrition counseling appointments as well as partnering with organizations like CFAC to expand nutrition access in the community. Not only do students learn how to make quick meals and snacks, but they also learn how to build healthy options with ingredients they are likely to have at home.”

Rubino owns her own company, Nutrition Focused Health, and also has worked with the All Nations Health Center.

“Getting to work with kids is an absolute joy,” she said. “And just knowing how impactful nutrition education is at this age, I think is huge.”

She said the recipes are tailored to be easily replicated by kids who might be unsupervised at home.

“I think there’s this idea that healthy has to taste bad, and that’s not the case at all,” she said.

On Tuesday, she also taught the kids how to make a dip with blended yogurt and peanut butter that goes well with apples and crackers. Instead of just watching Rubino, the kids all got to take part in making the meal.

Matt Driessen, the superintendent of DeSmet School, said over 70% of kids in the school qualify for the free and reduced-price lunch program, meaning they are in a low-income family. He knows that parents are often struggling to work two jobs and may not have time to cook a healthy meal at home, so they  resort to fast food or other not-so-healthy fast options.

High housing costs in the Missoula area also devastate family finances, he said, which translates to less nutritious eating habits.

“As a school superintendent I see an aspect of housing stress that goes unnoticed by many in our community,” he noted. “Many parents are working two jobs. Their children are home alone and taking care of themselves, and many times younger siblings. A nutrition program that has a hands-on component so children are learning by cooking easy, nutritious meals that they can make at home safely is a necessary skill all children should have today.”

The program by CFAC has been a rousing success, he explained.

“They love this,” he said.

The Community Food and Agriculture Coalition also administers three statewide food access programs.

The Double SNAP Dollars programs allows people with food stamps to double their purchasing power up to $20 a day at participating farmers markets.

The Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program allows low-income seniors to get $50 vouchers to make produce purchases at local farmers markets, which also helps local agricultural producers.

The Montana Produce Prescription Collaborative allows health care providers to prescribe low-income, chronically ill patients with vouchers for free, fresh produce at local farmers markets.

Each of these programs have a large concentration of participants across western Montana and require extensive evaluation and data collection from those participants, according to Jennifer Zaso, the communications and development coordinator at the organization.