Youngsters learn nutrition with "hands on" help

Preschool students in Dexter know a little more than they once did about healthy eating choices these days, and they learned about those choices in a very "hands-on" application made possible through the University of Missouri Extension office -- specifically, the "Eating from the Garden" program.

Nutrition Program Associate Jeanie Huey heads up the collaborative effort between volunteers, agencies and schools that combines nutrition and gardening in lessons that incorporate outdoor garden produce tended to by the children themselves.

"Children get hands-on learning about plant science and nutrition," Huey explains. "They harvest produce and learn healthy recipes to incorporate into their diet."

Huey recently visited Circle of Friends Daycare in Dexter, where she helped to first build, and then plant a mini vegetable garden that includes tomatoes, spinach, radishes and lettuce.

"It's called a pallet garden," Huey explains, "because that's actually how we form the borders of the garden -- using wooden pallets. We plant three rows of seeds taking out every other slat in the palletts to form the rows."

The preschoolers at Circle of Friends planted the vegetable seeds themselves and have learned to care for the growing plants themselves, applying fertilizer as needed and keeping them watered when rain doesn't do nature's job for them.

The local Orscheln Farm & Home store aided the cause by matching the price of the seed and supplying half the potting soil.

"The Eating from the Garden program has been around for a few years," says Huey, "but this is the first year that it's been offered in Dexter.

Huey will visit the daycare center a total of six times, providing lessons on nutrition and diet. The students are expected to be able to take their first taste from the garden next week as lettuce becomes available.

Any facility interesting in the Family Nutrition Education Program is encouraged to contact Jeanie Huey at 573-614-7110.