MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is promoting healthy eating to its elementary school students through its Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP).
LaTrina Cooper teaches second grade at Dr. Benjamin Carson Academy of Science.
Sometimes in class, she will hand out different types of fruits and vegetables to her students.
She said most of her students have not had the opportunity to eat some of the fruits and vegetables they’ve tried through FFVP — such as golden berries.
FFVP is funded by a $1.6 million federal grant. There are 70 MPS schools that participate.
According to United States Department of Agriculture, the goals of the program include cultivating “healthier school environments by providing healthier food choices,” increasing “the variety of fruits and vegetables children experience,” increasing how many fruits and vegteables children eat and “[making] a difference in children’s diets to impact their present and future health.”
“When we talk and we learn about it, they are just like, ‘Wow, maybe my mom or my auntie or my grandma who has cancer — maybe it will help them,’ or ‘Maybe it will help me because I may not get it if I eat these fruits and vegetables as a young child,’” Cooper said/
Second graders Deshon Souter and Ro’mya Chapman said they were happy to try golden berries at school.
“I like it and then it tastes like an orange to me,” Souter said.
Deshon Souter, an MPS second grader, tries golden berries at school through FFVP. (Spectrum News 1/Phillip Boudreaux)
“It was okay,” Chapman said. “It’s a little bitter to me, but it was good and all and sweet like strawberries.”
Seventh graders Javareous Harris and Alaina Ross said it is also important to understand why this fruit is good for you.
“They are healthy,” Harris said.
“They help delay cancer a bit,” Ross said.
Caron Academy’s assistant principal, Chrystal White, has been happy to bring back FFVP for the past few years.
“We’ve had zucchini and yellow squash,” White said. “I mean, those are things. It’s just all things that they may have not tried and some found out they really like it and others are like ‘Mmmm,’ but you know what, at least they got a chance to try it.”
Cooper said she hopes the program inspires them to make changes to their diet. Cooper said she wants to see her students become thriving and healthy adults.
“It’s just important for them to have it, cause a lot of them are eating candy and popcorn and things like that and they just don’t know that fruits and vegetables are so good for them and it makes them feel better,” Cooper said.
Learn more about FFVP via the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, here.