When volunteer educators from nonprofit Purple Asparagus teach their monthly healthy food lessons at Chicago public schools, they ask that students treat their classrooms as strict “No Yuck Zones.”
“When we were just starting out, if we tried a recipe that was a little bit different and you had kids who would sit there and say, ‘Oh that’s awful,’ ‘I hate that,’ ‘It’s disgusting.’ That can infect an entire group of kids,” executive director Melissa Graham said. “And there may be that other kid on the other side of the room who has very different taste buds and they might think it’s awesome.”
The fruits and vegetables and simple recipes the Purple Asparagus team brings to its classes each month are designed to help students see healthy food in a new way. For the past 13 years, the group has worked to introduce kids and their families, often from underserved communities, to foods they may not have been familiar with before, and show them easy ways to incorporate those ingredients into a nutritious diet. Purple Asparagus’ flagship Delicious Nutritious Adventures program is now offered at 16 Chicagoland schools.
”All of our program is designed to get kids excited about fruits and vegetables,” Graham said. “(It) takes away the barriers about, ‘Oh this is healthy, this is unhealthy,’ ‘This is good, this is bad.’ We really want kids to think about food in a way that it’s something that they want to explore.”
Volunteers present different seasonal fruits and veggies throughout the year and young participants get a chance to try the often new-to-them foods alone and as part of a simple recipe they can replicate at home. In October, the kids taste-tested four different varieties of apples. Next month, they’ll learn how to make their own “carrot tacos” from shredded carrots, lemon juice, spices, olive oil and a lettuce leaf “shell.” The organization also partners with other groups for community-wide presentations and initiatives (Graham and her team were involved with Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! project early on).
Lead educators with the group teach 45-minute classes during the school day once a month, and are asked to commit to at least the full nine-month school year when they sign up (monthly, teaching days end up being about a four- to five-hour activity). Volunteers with less flexibility can serve as assistant educators for one session or several, depending on their schedule. If teaching’s not your strong suit, the group always needs help with administrative work, as well (marketing, finance, etc.), or supporters can donate to the cause at events like the upcoming Purple By Night annual fundraiser on April 22.
Graham said her group’s focus on teaching people how to use and enjoy healthy ingredients works hand-in-hand with larger efforts to ensure all families have access to fresh, nutritious food in the first place. Once that access is there, she said, programs like Purple Asparagus can help kids and their parents make the most of it.
Gwendolyn Purdom is a RedEye freelancer.
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