'Farm to School' offers a new way to get kids to eat their vegetables

It's lunchtime at Majestic Elementary Arts Academy and children who come in are being offered a chance to try something new.

Slices of zucchini and squash with ranch dressing, cooked versions of the vegetables and even a zucchini muffin are offered up. It's locally-grown produce being offered to the school to serve to children as part of an initiative between the Utah Department of Agriculture & Food, the Utah State Board of Education and the Jordan School District.

"We worked with Bangerter Farms in Bountiful to bring in squash," said Katie Bastian, the Jordan School District's nutrition specialist. "We wanted to highlight it in several different forms — raw form, cooked form, zucchini muffin so kids can get exposure to it."

The goal of the "Farm to School" program is to expose more children to produce grown here in Utah, said Natalie McHale, who oversees the initiative for Utah's Department of Agriculture & Food. It is expanding across the state.

The initiative also connects local farmers to school districts to expand their food sources throughout the year and offers an educational opportunity for children about where food comes from. Bastain said the Jordan School District tries to use locally-sourced food where it can, even picking up produce grown by the nearby applied technology college greenhouses.

"A lot of schools will implement a lot of local produce or food in their school meals," said Dani Perez, who oversees the program for the Utah State Board of Education. "But they’ll also use it for samples like this or field trips to farmers and things like that."

Farm to School is paid for through a mix of federal and state funding, but it strives to keep many food sources local and offer a way for farmers to help feed communities. So far, children have had a chance to sample things like fresh raspberries, strawberries and apples. But children FOX 13 News spoke with gave the zucchini and squash mixed reviews.

Ennaidy picked up a slice of zucchini, tasted it and put it back down.

"Not good!" she said.

Aubree chewed on it for a bit and told her little brother it was best with ranch dressing.

"I like carrots and I guess squash now," she declared.

One idea was a hit — the zucchini muffin. Once children were told there were chocolate chips mixed in, they forgot about the vegetable and went all-in on the muffins. Some went back for more.

Mothers who took their children to lunch on Thursday told FOX 13 News they liked the initiative and what it's trying to do.

"I love it," said Breanna Lay. "I have a hard time getting my kids to eat vegetables at home, as much as I offer, so I think it’s great we can bring it into the schools."

Rosa Telcalco said she picked up a good way to get her children to eat more vegetables.

"I like the whole putting it into a muffin idea," she said. "That way they didn’t even know they ate it."