This year during lunchtime Mary Hogan Elementary School is hosting monthly taste tests featuring Vermont’s Harvest of the Month fruits and vegetables. The taste tests are a collaborative effort between Katelyn Jaring, Mary Hogan’s head cook with the Abbey Group, Bethany Yon with the Vermont Dept of Health, and Middlebury College Nutrition Outreach and Mentoring (NOM). October’s Harvest of the Month vegetable was kale and it was prepared for students as kale chips. The morning of the taste test Katelyn, the food service team, and a NOM volunteer prepared enough kale chips to serve over 300 samples. During each lunch period NOM volunteers distributed kale chip samples and students recorded their reactions on taste test ballots. The ballots invited students to rate the kale chips: “Like!”, “Sort of…” or “Don’t like”. Some students felt these options didn’t capture their feelings about the kale chips. They loved them! 61% of the 5th and 6th graders liked the kale chips, 22% sort of liked the kale chips, and 17% did not like the kale chips. In the 1st and 2nd grade lunch period 65% of students liked the kale chips, 20% sort of liked the kale chips and 15% didn’t like the kale chips. The results from the 3rd and 4th grade lunch period showed that 69% of students liked the kale chips, 19% sort of liked the kale chips, and 12% didn’t like the kale chips. Students comments ranged from suggesting that the kale chips would be even better with a little salt, to wanting seconds and even thirds. Some students couldn’t wait to share their experience and newfound love for kale chips with their parents!

NOM volunteers met with new students and interested volunteers at both the Student Activities and MiddAction Fairs this week! Volunteers chatted with students about the taste testings at Mary Hogan and nutrition lessons at Cornwall over delicious smoothies made by leg power and the awesome smoothie bike. Contact nom@middlebury.edu for more information or to get involved.

This year NOM volunteered in a multi-age homeroom at the Bridge School teaching lessons on a variety of different local in season vegetables including broccoli, kale, parsnips, cabbage, beets, carrots and mixed greens. The students also helped prepare the vegetables for taste testing!

Check out former NOM president Rachel’s blog from her time abroad! It includes many photographs of delicious food from Peru.

Click here to see more: http://mmmaracuya.blogspot.com/?view=classic

Below is just one excerpt from Rachel’s blog: “Ceviche! Pretty much Peru’s national dish. Fish “cooked” in lime juice with peppers, cilantro and onion. On the side there’s always sweet potato and corn. It’s almost perfect, in my opinion. Healthy, delicious, balanced between spicy (ceviche), sweet (sweet potato) and netural (corn).”

Next year we will have a great new group of students leading the child nutrition education program here at Middlebury College.

President – Chelsea Colby

Vice President – Emily Fields

Treasurer – Caroline Wolfe

Publicity – Katelyn Reuther

Volunteer Events Coordinator – Karen Lee

We are looking forward to another year filled with great partnerships! Interested in getting involved or have any suggestions? Contact us at nom@middlebury.edu

NOM is so grateful to this year’s board for their hard work and dedication! This year we volunteered with many community partners including Addison Central Teens, Mary Johnson Childcare Center, the Bridge School and Mary Hogan Elementary School. We also collaborated with other campus organizations including Sister-to-Sister, Community Friends, Dance Marathon and Relay for Life. All of this great work would not have been possible without your help!

NOM attended the annual Stone Soup Soiree hosted by ACORN to celebrate many of this year’s Harvest of the Month accomplishments. This year the event was held on Thursday, May 5 at Lincoln Peak Winery with a focus on farm to school initiatives in Addison County.

Students and volunteers make carrot muffins together in the Mary Johnson Childcare Center kitchen as part of the April Harvest of the Month lessons focused on carrots.

“Nutrition Outreach and Mentoring, a student organization on campus, engages and educates local children and families around issues of nutrition, working towards the mission of National Nutrition Month year-round.”

Read more at: http://sites.middlebury.edu/middcommunityengagement/2016/03/14/march-is-national-nutrition-month/

In the fall of 2015, The Campus featured some of the Community Engagement student organizations. NOM was included in this spread! The spread highlighted NOM’s goal of introducing local children to healthy cooking and eating.